Ransetsu's poetry is low-keyed and austere, reflecting the
sabi aspect of Bashō's writing, but showing a real empathy with all living creatures. A critical contemporary called him "a man of small calibre...he seems to have flowers, but has no fruit". R. H. Blyth would later partially concur, saying that "even his death verse, beautiful and justly famous as it is, has something nerveless about it: A leaf falls, Totsu! Another leaf falls, Carried by the wind". ==Diary==