This was one of the first haiku Bashō had published, written when he was only 21. At this time, the popular style for renga, of which haiku (hokku) was the first verse, was to make clever allusions to poems and songs from "the old days". Bashō was very good at this, but he discarded it later in life as he attempted to find the true essence of haiku.

The reference here is to a Noh play called "Tengu on Mount Kurama" (鞍馬天狗, kurama tengu) where cherry blossoms instead of the moon are a guide. This kind of fun allusion is why the popular style of renga was called haikai no renga—comic renga—often shortened to simply haikai.

To go off on a tangent, the tengu in that Noh play is Sōjōbō (僧正坊) the king of the tengu (a tengu is a kind of yokai spirit). It was said he had the strength of 1000 normal tengu. Sōjōbō is best known for (supposedly) teaching Minamoto no Yoshitsune the art of swordsmanship and strategy, tips that Yoshitsune would use well when he led the Minamoto forces to win over the Taira in their war for control of Japan.

Anyway, moon (tsuki) is an autumn season word, making this an autumn poem.

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.

1. That is, me! If you like this translation, feel free to use it. Just credit me. Also link here if you can. ↩