The months and days are the travelers of eternity. The years that come and go are also voyagers... I too for years past have been stirred by the sight of a solitary cloud drifting with the wind to ceaseless thoughts of roaming.

月日は百代の過客にして、行かふ年も又旅人也 … 予もいづれの年よりか、片雲の風にさそはれて、漂泊の思ひやまず、海浜にさすらへ、去年の秋江上の破屋に蜘の古巣をはらひて、やゝ年も暮。

More information about this quote

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Original Citation

Basho, Matsuo. おくのほそ道 [The Narrow Road to the Deep North]. Tokyo, 1702.

Current Citation

Basho, Matsuo. "The Narrow Road to the Deep North." The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches, translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa. Penguin Classics, 1967.