池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨 ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one

The pond and the stream have become one; spring rain.

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one (池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨) in Block style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one 池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨 ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame Vertical Block VB6C

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one (池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨) in Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one 池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨 ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame Vertical Cursive VC7B

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one (池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨) in Jiun style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one 池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨 ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame Vertical Jiun VD3B

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one 池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨 ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame Vertical Jiun VD3C

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one 池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨 ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame Vertical Jiun VD3D

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one 池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨 ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame Vertical Jiun VD6B

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one (池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨) in Semi-Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one 池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨 ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame Vertical Semi-Cursive VS6D

More about 池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨

In the spring rain The pond and the river Have become one	ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame	池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨
Buson	buson	蕪村

Yosa Buson's verse sets a large event under a small season word. A pond and a stream have run together and become one. In the summer rains that would be a flood. In the spring rain it is soft, a boundary that has melted away without force. Japanese readers have argued over how big the waters are, and the season word settles it: the rain is spring's, so the joining is gentle.

In the Japanese, ひとつになりぬ means have become one, and ぬ marks a thing quietly finished. The verse breaks there, and 春の雨, the spring rain, stands apart as the season. It is the soft, steady rain of spring, not the summer rain that floods rivers.

The English is R. H. Blyth's, from his Haiku of 1952.

The verse is Buson's, first printed in 1900 in Mizuochi Roseki 水落露石's 蕪村遺稿, a gathering from a manuscript of the verses his 1784 selection had left out; Stephen Addiss, following the 1992 Kōdansha complete works, dates it to 1782.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨.

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Japanese Scroll of Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one (ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame) — Calligraphy by Eri Takase

Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one池と川ひとつになりぬ春の雨ike to kawa hitotsu ni narinu haru no ame

Original art by Master Calligrapher Eri Takase

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Buson - In the spring rain, The pond and the river, Have become one as a hand-brushed scroll

Master Takase personally brushes your scroll when you order, and it bears her red seal and her signature. The scroll has woven damask borders and layered Japanese paper. It is designed to last generations and arrives ready to display.