「五月雨を集めて早し最上川」

Proceeding further on his journey, Basho went down the Mogami River, one of Japan's swiftest currents, by boat. Entrusting himself to the flow of the river, which had risen fiercely from the continuous early summer rain (samidare), Basho composed the dynamic haiku: 'Gathering the rains of May, how swift it flows—Mogami River.' It captured the dynamic vitality of the great river, which collected countless falling raindrops and flowed at a terrifying speed with massive swells.