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Bashō is one of the most famous Japanese haiku poets, and his work popularized the form throughout all of Japan. In this poem, “Spring is passing” refers to an eternal parting, and the birds and fish represent the poet’s friends.

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The first letter of each line spells out the name “ALICE PLEASANCE LIDDELL,” the subject of the poem. Alice also serves as the inspiration of Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, a work whose themes and ideas can be seen, albeit inchoate, in this poem.

On top of the acrostic form, Carroll also rhymes each tercet, making this poem both metrically challenging and a pleasure to read. Of course, acrostic poems can do more than just embed names in their lines—they can embed messages of any sort!—but the acrostic name poem is a common literary trope.

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