• SIGN UP
  • DONATE

The Culturium

Timeless, Wise & Beautiful

  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Writers & Artists
  • The Sacred Feminine
  • The Culturium Collection
    • The Culturium Collection
    • Books & eBooks
      • Literature
      • Film
      • Wisdom
      • Visual Arts
      • Performing Arts
    • CDs & Digital Music
    • DVDs & Digital Movies

Sep 02 2016

Matsuo Bashō: Deep Silence

Isaac Levitan, A Quiet Monastery - The Culturium
Isaac Levitan, A Quiet Monastery.
Photograph: [Public Domain] Wikimedia Commons

How can silence be explained in words?

MATSUO BASHŌ’S FAMOUS haiku is a profound meditation on the power of poetry to express the inexpressible and convey the unspoken eloquence of all that is.

閑かさや 岩にしみ入る 蝉の声
Shizukasa ya iwa ni shimiiru semi no koe

deep silence
the shrill of cicadas
seeps into rocks

—Matsuo Bashō
(1644–94)

[Haiku composed at Yama-dera, “Mountain Temple”, Japan, 1689.]

Matsuo Basho, On Love and Barley - The Culturium

Buy Book

Post Notes

  • Matsuo Bashō: The Narrow Road to the Deep North
  • Matsuo Bashō et al.: Four Huts
  • Eugen Herrigel: Zen in the Art of Archery
  • John Zerzan: Silence
  • Gabriel Rosenstock: To Thine Own Self Be True
  • Emily Dickinson: A Woman Before Her Time
  • Roger Housden: Ten Poems for Difficult Times
  • Liam Ó Muirthile: Camino de Santiago, Dánta, Poems, Poemas
  • Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden & Zen Master Ryokan

Join Our Newsletter

Written by Paula Marvelly · Categorized: Literature · Tagged: haiku, isaac levitan, japanese, matsuo bashō, poetry, silence

Donate With PayPal

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

You might also like some of the following recent posts on The Culturium …

  • Rainer Maria Rilke: The Testament November 2, 2025
  • Sally Mason: Silence in the Landscape October 26, 2025
  • Joel Coen: The Tragedy of Macbeth October 19, 2025
  • Yahia Lababidi: Wilde, Nietzsche & the Art of Living October 12, 2025
  • The Spirituality of Marc Chagall October 5, 2025
  • Wassily Kandinsky: Sounds September 22, 2025
  • Huibo Hou: Iceland September 14, 2025
  • Tal Waldman: Mounts, Temples, Traces September 7, 2025
  • The Spirituality of Duncan Grant August 31, 2025
  • Contact
  • Affiliates
  • Archives
  • Terms of Use

© 2025 The Culturium · All rights reserved · Built on the Rainmaker Platform ·

~The Culturium has affiliate links with Amazon Associates Program and Apple Services Performance Partners Program, powered by Geniuslink~

Privacy Policy