EALL 271
Literature of the Tokugawa Period

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)(download)

Matsuo Basho was born in Ueno, Iga Province. Started life as a page, and later became a Haiku poet.  He once was romantically ionvolved with a woman named Jutei.

He went to Kyoto and  studied under Kitamura Kigin, a haiku master. He became friends with Nishiyama Soin, founder of the Danrin School (haiku). Sampu, one of Basho's haiku disciples, built the basho-an for Basho in Fukagawa. During this period, his haiku was marked with a tone of quiet loneliness. He was influenced by the Taoist thoughts of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu. He also studied zen under Butcho.

He enjoyed going on lengthy trips, following the footsteps of poet-priests Saigyo and Sogi.  Two of his famous writings are Oi no kobumi (Yoshino Kiko, or Travels to Yoshino) and Oku no hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Far North).  Basho died on the twelfth day of the 10th month, 1694 in Osaka (Minami Mido, the home of Hanaya Nizaemon) at the age of 50.

<-- click for a bigger picture of Basho's journey

Basho's writing style started with the Teitoku school, then the Danrin school, and eventually his own distinctive style.  His haiku emphasizes sabi (quiet contemplation), shiori (deep suggestiveness), hosomi (delicate perception), and yugenbi (mysterious beauty). He expounded in Oi no kobumi, that true art can be achieved only when " private thoughts and emotions have been cast off, and one has immersed himself completely in the world of nature."
(Hisamatsu, A Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Literature. Kodansha)

Questions
1. What are the 2 main features of haiku?
2.  In Genjuan no Fu (Prose Poems on the Unreal Dwelling), Basho writes: Indeed it is true that all the delusions of the senses are summed up in the one word-------, and there is no way to forget even for a moment change and its swiftness." What is that single word?
3. According to Oku no hosomichi, what are the 4 things Basho did before embarking on his journey?
4. Write your perception of the following haiku by Basho:
     An old pond/a frog jumps in/the sound of the water (Furuike ya/kawazu tobikomu/ mizu no oto).
5. This is the first haiku in Oku no hosomichi, On what day was it written? Explain. Even a thatched hut/In this changing world may turn/Into a doll's house. (Kusa no to mo/Sumikawaru yo zo/Hina no ie.)
6.  What image did Basho try to induce when he wrote: Kisagata--/Seishi sleeping in the rain/Wet mimosa blooms. (Kisagata ya/ame ni seishi ga/nebu no hana)
7. What is an uta-makura (poem-pillow)?
8. In Oku no hosomichi, did Basho travel alone?
9. What was the scariest place Basho visited in Oku no hosomichi? Explain.
10. In terms of scope and size, what is the grandest thing Basho witnessed in Oku no hosomichi. (hint: he was in Niigata. The rough seas/stretching across Sado/......(Ara umi ya/ Sado ni yokotau/.....)