However, be careful not to get stymied by strict adherence to the number of syllables and miss the essence of haiku. In Japanese, a haiku poem is usually divided into three groups/lines of syllables, the first and last with five syllables, the second with seven. His works have remained timeless, and are today revered as those of a master poet, ".little drops of the essence of poetry" (Sansom, 492). Basho's health was poor, and he began to compose his death bed poems, dictating them to one of his disciples. The poems from this last journey suggest a foreboding. ![]() In 1694, he left on the last of his major travels. The poems of these years again reflect his detachment from life. However well phrased your poetry may be, if your feeling is not natural-if the object and yourself are separate-then your poetry is not true poetry but merely your subjective counterfeit" (Basho, 33).īasho continued to travel and write, but in 1692 he settled into a house where he spent the next two and a half years in isolation. Basho writes: "Your poetry issues of its own accord when you and the object have become one-when you have plunged deep enough into the object to see something like a hidden glimmering there. However, considered more deeply, it is also a mirror that reflects the author. On the surface it is a description of the actions of a frog. This poem is representative of Basho's mature style. Anthologies of his works were published during this period, including Spring Days, a collection of his own and his pupils' poems containing Basho's most famous haiku: Furuike ya, kawazu tobikomu, mizu no oto. His writing took on a mature, knowing style, representing the spiritual distance he had traveled. They are written in a combination of prose and poetry called haibun. His records of his travels have become classical literature. It was a precarious time to travel, and most people would not simply take to the open road. In the summer of 1684, Basho started on the first of his five famous travels around Japan. His writings of the following two years reveal his resulting distress as he struggled to find his own style of expression. In 1682, Basho's home was destroyed by fire. He is known to have said that he had one foot in the other world and one in this world, leading us to believe that meditation probably never led him to enlightenment. It was during this time of suffering that Basho began studying Zen meditation under the guidance of a priest. Signs of spiritual suffering can be seen in his poems from this period. ![]() Living by himself, he began to withdraw from the world around him. However, he was not satisfied with this type of writing and eventually moved to a small house by a river. The poems he wrote appeared in many anthologies over the next four years, and he found himself with disciples whose poems were also being published. In 1676, Basho began to compose poetry for publication. It was Soen's influence that taught Basho the value of the humble and unpretentious use of images from everyday life that would become the hallmark of his poetry. He was invited to study with Soen, a famous contemporary poet. There he worked at various jobs as he made a name for himself in the circle of poets. Soon thereafter, he left for Edo (now Tokyo) which was the center of the Tokugawa government. The anthology was well-received and Basho gained respect for the work. In 1671, Basho returned to his home in Ueno and presented to the shrine there an anthology of works by many authors, including himself, which he edited and critiqued. It is believed that he spent several years there in a temple studying the Chinese and Japanese classics. Basho asked to be released from service to the Todo family, but his request was denied, so he ran away to Kyoto. Yoshitada died at the age of 25, leaving Basho crushed with grief. ![]() These two became great friends and studied the art of linked verse under a famous writer of the time, Teitoku. When Basho was nine years old, he became a study companion to the Todo family heir, Yoshitada. His father was a samurai of lower rank in the service of the Todo family. Before Basho refined the haiku poem, its form of 17 syllables had been used, but not with the simplicity and depth of meaning that Basho brought to the form.īasho was born in 1644 in the city of Ueno. He is credited with making haiku a revered form of poetry. Among these are Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki. Historically, there are only a few poets in Japan who, over the centuries, have become respected for their haiku poetry. With some basic background information and some hints for guided practice, the study of haiku can give students a brief glimpse into Japanese culture. Students like writing haiku because of its brevity teachers find it an interesting addition to the study of poetry. Haiku is a well-known form of Japanese poetry in the West. Available in PDF format ( 107.39 KB ) Contents
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