213Haiku 俳句
荒海や佐渡によこたふ天河
あらうみやさどによこたうあまのがわAraumi ya Sado ni yokotau amanogawa
“Wild sea — stretched over Sado Island, the River of Heaven.”
The meaning
Above the furious waves, the sky spreads its immense calm. Two scales share one gaze: the near tumult, the distant order.
At the origin
A haiku composed by Bashō facing the Sea of Japan (1689).
The characters
- 荒海 araumiwild sea
- や yacutting word
- 佐渡 SadoSado Island
- に
- よこたふ
- 天河
やParticle“And” of an open list: among others. In a haiku it is the cut — a silence that parts the verse.
In practice
When everything churns at eye level, look up one scale.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 109 ゆく河の流れは絶えずして、しかももとの水にあらず The river flows on and on, and yet the water is never the same.
- 110 雪は天から送られた手紙である Snow is a letter sent from the sky.
- 126 一葉落ちて天下の秋を知る One leaf falls, and we know autumn is coming to the world.
- 167 春の海ひねもすのたりのたりかな The spring sea — all day long it swells and gently swells.
- 225 五月雨や大河を前に家二軒 June rains — facing the swollen river, two houses.