Which Japanese poet wrote 'The old pond — a frog jumps in, sound of water'?

Matsuo Bashō wrote the famous haiku beginning “The old pond — a frog jumps in, sound of water.” The Japanese original, “Furu ike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto,” is one of the best-known poems in world literature.

Bashō composed the poem in spring 1686 at his hermitage in Edo, present-day Tokyo. Its power comes from the contrast between the pond’s ancient stillness and the sudden splash of the frog. Rather than describing the frog’s croak, as earlier Japanese poetry often did, Bashō focused on the sound created by its movement.

Bashō lived from 1644 to 1694 and helped transform haikai, a popular linked-verse tradition, into a respected literary art. He is also associated with travel writings such as The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Translations vary: “old pond,” “ancient pond,” and “silent old pond” are all common renderings. The wording changes, but the poem’s author does not: the canonical answer is Matsuo Bashō.