Basho's Monkey Mask Haiku & So-gi's Temple Bell

For my "Monkey Sox" avatar and my dream:^D, two haiku. There is an insightful commentary on these two poems by Hugh Bygott (UK) on the old Shiki Salon haiku forum, in which the use of metaphor in this poem of Basho's is examined:


toshidoshi ya
saru ni kisetaru
saru no men

year after year—
on the monkey's face
a monkey's mask

haiku by Matsuo Bashō
(松尾 芭蕉, Matsuo Bashō, 1644 – 28 November 1694)

kane zo naru
kyo- mo munashiku
sugi ya sen

The temple bell
sounds on another day
empty of insight.

hyakuin by So-gi
So-gi Dokugin Nanibito Hyakuin
"A Hundred Stanzas Related to 'Person' by
So-gi Alone."
Translation by Earl Miner

Makoto Ueda's commentary on Basho's monkey's mask poem may also be found at the University of Oregon's site.