An Old Silent Pond by Basho

Summary: A poem from the Japanese haiku master, Matsuo Basho, about a silent pond

Characters:

The speaker - Speaks about the silence and momentary disruption of silence in a pond

Verse:

• The speaker introduces the audience to a pond that has existed for a while, the pond is old
• A frog, even after all this time that the pond has existed, finds its way into this old pond
• Again there is silence when the frog does what it needs to do

Other Notes:

• This poem was written in 1686 and a monument is left in his honor near the place that Basho wrote this poem
• He is a developer and master of the haiku form of writing poetry