Matsuo Basho

Bush Warbler

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Bush Warbler - context Summary

Spring Retreat at Rakushisha

Basho wrote this haiku in 1691 during a spring retreat at the Rakushisha, the villa of his disciple Mukai Kyorai in Saga, Kyoto. It appears in his Saga Nikki. The short poem records a plain, domestic moment—an observing bush warbler on the porch rail—to the point of bodily detail. Its composition at the Falling Persimmon Hut links the image to Basho’s practice of gathering humble, immediate scenes.

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Bush warbler: shits on the rice cakes on the porch rail.

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