Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water in Japanese Calligraphy

古池や蛙飛込水の音 (furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto)

This is perhaps Matsuo Basho's most well known poem. For a great look at how differently this poem is translated see Matsuo Basho Frog Haiku (Thirty-one translations and one commentary). The translation we use here is by R. H. Blyth.

Note that we have used the shorted version of tobikomu, the full form is 飛び込む (read tobikomu) meaning "to jump in; to leap in; to plunge into; to dive in".

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water (古池や蛙飛込水の音) in Block style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water 古池や蛙飛込水の音 furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto Block Vertical VB5C

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water (古池や蛙飛込水の音) in Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water 古池や蛙飛込水の音 furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto Cursive Vertical VC5B

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water (古池や蛙飛込水の音) in Design style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water 古池や蛙飛込水の音 furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto Design Vertical VD5B

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water 古池や蛙飛込水の音 furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto Design Vertical VD5C

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water (古池や蛙飛込水の音) in Semi-Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water 古池や蛙飛込水の音 furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto Semi-Cursive Vertical VS5C

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water 古池や蛙飛込水の音 furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto Semi-Cursive Vertical VS5D

Basho - The old pond, a frog jumps in, the sound of water

古池や蛙飛込水の音 (furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto)

Also available as a hand-brushed Japanese scroll