Haiku by Basho:
a red pepper
add some wings
a dragonfly
autumn dusk
a crow settles
on a bare branch
Other names: Kinsaku, Sobo, Tosei, Basho (banana tree)
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)
Most famous haiku:
old pond
a frog jumps in -
the sound of water
Bio: Basho was born near Kyoto in 1644. In 1653, when he was nine years old, he became the study companion of the son of a local lord with whom he started learning haiku. In 1664, he published two poems in an anthology under his pen name Sobo:
The leafless cherry,
Old as a toothless woman,
Blooms in flowers,
Mindful of his youth.
In 1666, Yoshitada died at the age of 25 and Basho moved to Edo.
In 1675, Basho was invited to write linked verse with Soin and, for the occasion, changed his pen name from Sobo to Tosei.
In 1680, Sampu, one of his admirer, built a small house for him in Fukagawa, near the river Sumida. When a banana tree (basho) was presented to him as a gift, the name "Basho" became the name of his ermitage and shortly after his pen name. In 1682, his house was destroyed by fire and he seeked refuge with a friend.
In the summer of 1684, he started on a first journey and wrote The record of a weather-exposed skeleton. Her returned to Edo after a 9 month travel.
In 1687, he left for a short trip to Kashima Shrine. The record trip of this trip is in A visit to Kashima Shrine, the second of his travel sketches. Upon his return, he left for one of his longest journey, 11 months, told in The records of a travel-worn satchel and A visit to Sarashina VIllage.
Leaving Edo in the Spring of 1689, he spent 2 and a half year on the road and wrote The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
In spring 1694, leaving for another trip, at the age of 50, Basho fell ill and died on October 12 1694.
Death poem:
seized with a disease
halway on the road,
my dreams keep revolving
round the withered moor.
Quote: "Go to the pine if you want to learn about the pine, or to the bamboo if you want to learn about the bamboo".
Bibliography: The Narrow Road to the Deep North and other travel sketches, translated from the Japanese and with an introduction by Nobuyuki Yuasa (Penguin classic)
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Haiku comics:
A red pepper
add some wings
a dragonfly.(Matsuo Basho)
Written by Basho in response to a haiku by Kikaku
The soup, the salad
everything is covered
by cherry blossoms
(Haiku by Matsuo Basho)
(Published in FrogPond, Summer 2011)
Clouds of cherry blossom
the temple bell
is it Ueno or Asakura?(Haiku by Matsuo Basho)
Many, many things
they call to mind
these cherry blossoms(Haiku by Matsuo Basho)
Matsushima, ah!
Ah, Matsushima, ah-ah!
Matsushima, ah!(Haiku by Matsuo Basho)
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