“Spring passes
and the birds cry out—tears
in the eyes of fishes”

—  Bashō Matsuo , book Oku no Hosomichi

行く春や
鳥啼き魚の
目は泪
yuku haru ya
tori naki uo no
me wa namida
Matsuo Bashō, Narrow Road to the Interior and other writings, Boston, 2000, p. 4 (Translation: Sam Hamill)
Spring is passing by!
Birds are weeping and the eyes
Of fish fill with tears.
Matsuo Bashō, The Narrow Road to Oku, Tokyo, 1996, p. 23 (Translation: Donald Keene)
The passing of spring—
The birds weep and in the eyes
Of fish there are tears.
Donald Keene, Travelers of a Hundred Ages, New York, 1999, p. 310 (Translation: Donald Keene)
Oku no Hosomichi

Original

行く春や 鳥啼き魚の 目は泪

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Spring passes and the birds cry out—tears in the eyes of fishes" by Bashō Matsuo?
Bashō Matsuo photo
Bashō Matsuo 46
Japanese poet 1644–1694

Related quotes

Sylvia Plath photo

“I didn't know why I was going to cry, but I knew that if anybody spoke to me or looked at me too closely the tears would fly out of my eyes and the sobs would fly out of the throat and I'd cry for a week.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Meng Haoran photo

“This morn of spring in bed I'm lying,
Not to awake till birds are crying.
After one night of wind and showers,
How many are the fallen flowers!”

Meng Haoran poet from the Tang Dynasty

"Spring Morning" (《春晓》), trans. Yuanchong Xu

John Adams photo

“If you were a tear in my eyes l would not cry for I risk losing you.”

John Adams (1735–1826) 2nd President of the United States

1750s, Diaries (1750s-1790s)

Imru' al-Qais photo

“Weep for me, my eyes! Spill your tears
And mourn for me the vanished kings
Hujr ibn 'Amru's princely sons
Led away to slaughter at eventide;
If only they had died in combat
Not in the lands of Banu Marina!
No water was there to wash their fallen heads,
And their skulls lie spattered with blood
Pecked over by birds
Who tear out first the eyebrows, then the eyes.”

Imru' al-Qais (501–544) Arabic Poet

Diwan of Imru' al-Qays, Poem 2, quoted in Dictionary of Literary Biography, p. 213
The Poem of Imru' al-Qais

Ruth Ozeki photo

“Sometimes when she told stories about the past her eyes would get teary from all the memories she had, but they weren't tears. She wasn't crying. They were just the memories, leaking out.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

“More tearful than crying is seeing someone cry.”

Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet

Más llanto que llorar es ver llorar.
Voces (1943)

“Flow my tears, fall from your springs,
Exil'd for ever: let me mourn
Where night's black bird her sad infamy sings,
There let me live forlorn.”

John Dowland (1563–1626) English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer

"Flow my tears", line 1, The Second Book of Songs (1600).

Jack Johnson (musician) photo

“Why don't the newscasters cry when they read about people who die?
At least they could be decent enough to put just a tear in their eyes.”

Jack Johnson (musician) (1975) American musician

The News.
Song lyrics, Brushfire Fairytales (2001)

Paul Celan photo

“Spring: trees flying up to their birds”

Paul Celan (1920–1970) Romanian poet and translator
Torquato Tasso photo

“Now spread the night her spangled canopy,
And summoned every restless eye to sleep;
On beds of tender grass the beasts down lie,
The fishes slumbered in the silent deep,
Unheard were serpent's hiss and dragon's cry,
Birds left to sing, and Philomen to weep,
Only that noise heaven's rolling circles kest,
Sung lullaby to bring the world to rest.”

Torquato Tasso (1544–1595) Italian poet

Era la notte allor ch'alto riposo
Han l'onde e i venti, e parea muto il mondo,
Gli animai lassi, e quei che 'l mare ondoso,
O de' liquidi laghi alberga il fondo,
E chi si giace in tana, o in mandra ascoso,
E i pinti augelli nell’oblio giocondo
Sotto il silenzio de' secreti orrori
Sopían gli affanni, e raddolciano i cori.
Canto II, stanza 96 (tr. Fairfax)
Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)

Related topics