Year
Basho composed this after in the company of his elder brother and three younger sisters, all since grown gray and wrinkled, remembering their long-deceased mother.
My Translation
If we took it by the hand, it might disappear—
The hot tears
Of autumn’s frost
Original Japanese
手に取らば消えん涙ぞ熱き秋の霜
Pronunciation
Te ni tora-ba kie-n
Namida zo atsuki
Aki no shimo
Literal Translation
[Hand by / to take] take if [disappear/melt/vanish] [possibly]
Tears ! [hot/fever/passion]
Autumn ’s/of frost