Matsuo Basho Years Quotations

Year's end still in straw hat and sandals

Year's end, all corners of this floating world, swept.

Along my journey / through this transitory world, / new year's housecleaning.

Year by year, the monkey's mask reveals the monkey

My body, now close to fifty years of age, has become an old tree that bears bitter peaches, a snail which has lost its shell, a bagworm separated from its bag; it drifts with the winds and clouds that know no destination. Morning and night I have eaten traveler's fare, and have held out for alms a pilgrim's wallet.