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- Haiku - the Poetry of Nouns -
The Style of Basho
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Basho's hokku have been called a "poetry of nouns"
because of its tendency to rely primarily on image rather than statement.
We can look back at the Sado Island, crow on a withered branch, and old pond poems as examples.
In each case we have the same pattern of noun, noun-verb, noun.
Much of the dynamism of these poems is in the stark imagism that turning them into a statement would only dilute.
Barnhill
What is Basho's style?
His style evolved over his career, from the early Danrin school influence, through Genroku 'keiki' style with its Chinese influence, to his final 'karumi' style.
And as Blyth points out,
Basho could write from a lot of different points of view.
There is a theory that
Basho used more Chinese characters and nouns, writing about the Elite of Japan, whereas Issa used more hiragana and verbs, to talk about the human situation of his time.
. WKD : What is Basho's style? .
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Karumi
Matsuo Basho's Ultimate Poetical Value, Or was it?
. . . The first of my 'mini' assumptions is the possibility that one of the main objectives of Basho's last journey might have been to disseminate the new style of karumi among his followers in the western regions, particularly Kamigata.
The second assumption is that the urgency and enthusiasm with which Basho was trying to develop karumi in his last years can be explained partly by the fact that some of his important disciples were falling away or even challenging the introduction of his new style and that he therefore had to try even harder to establish it.
The third of my assumptions . . . is that the greatest of all Basho's achievements is to be found in the creation of a new kind of poetry, born out of the marriage of the already existing two poetic worlds represented by sabi and karumi.
. . .
Amami is probably the most ambiguous and misleading of all Basho's terminology.
. . .
What is meant by karumi, whether it is hokku or tsukeku, is that it is composed as one sees, so to speak, without reaching out for it.
Using plain words does not mean that the sentiment expressed is slight. (On the contrary) it should come deep from the poet's heart and the finished stanza should have perfect naturalness.
. . .
a) Karumi as the Antithesis of Omomi
b) Karumi as the Antithesis of Furubi
c) Karumi as the Antithesis of Nebari and Shiburi
d) Karumi as the Antithesis of Shi-i (self-will)
e) Karumi as the Antithesis of Amami
f) Karumi as the Antithesis of Umami
- - - - and Characteristics of Karumi
a) Kogo-kizoku
b) aikai-jiyu (freedom)
c) Karumi and Zen
d) Humour
e) Karumi's Pictorial Qualities
f) Karumi and Musical Qualities
Notwithstanding the validity of the generally-held view that Japanese poems usually lack the characteristics of Western prosody, musical qualities do play their part in them. In an extreme case, if a Japanese poem sounds monotonous to the Western ears, the Japanese hear 'their' music in that monotony.
- - - - -also discussed are the concepts
fuga no makoto
fueki-ryuko
the scope for sabi
Haikai wa tada fuga nari. Fuga ni ron wa sukoshi mo gazanaku soro.
Haikai is nothing but poetry.
Poetry needs no theory.
- - - - - - Read this important analysis here :
. WKD : Essay by Susumu Takiguchi .
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. WKD : Hokku and Haikai 発句と俳諧 .
. WKD : Haiku - the Poetry of Nouns .
under construction
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秋風の鑓戸の口やとがり声
. akikaze no yarido no kuchi ya togarigoe .
(autumn) autumn wind. sliding door. piercing sound
冬牡丹千鳥よ雪のほととぎす
. fuyu botan chidori yo yuki no hototogisu .
this hokku contains four different kigo - winter peony, plover, snow, Hototogisu
隠れ家や月と菊とに田三反
. kakurega ya tsuki to kiku to ni ta san tan .
hermitage, moon, chrysanthemums, three tan of rice paddies
近江蚊帳汗やさざ波夜の床
Oomi-gaya ase ya sazanami yoru no toko
mosquito net from Omi -
my sweat - gentle waves
my bed at night
涼しさを飛騨の工が指図かな
. suzushisa o Hida no takumi ga sashizu kana .
coolness and the master carpenter from Hida
梅が香やしらら落窪京太郎
. ume ga ka ya Shirara Ochikubo Kyootaroo .
fragrance of plum blossoms. Shirara. Ochikubo. Kyotaro.
さざ波や風の薫りの相拍子
. sazanami ya kaze no kaori no ai byooshi .
gentle waves, fragrant breeze, the right accent (at lake Biwako)
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quote
Barnhill says that in his travels Basho pursued
“the wayfaring life in order to embody physically and metaphorically the fundamental character of the universe.”
He visits places “loaded” with cultural and spiritual significance and his sense of “nature” is bound up with these traditions of place. This intertwining of place and significance, the local and the transcendental, is basic to Basho’s experience.
The centrality of “place names” or utamakura is basic to Basho’s outlook. Barnhill says,
“Basho tended to write of places in nature handed down through literature, giving cultural depth to his experience of nature.”
By JAMIE EDGECOMBE
source : worldhaikureview2
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西行の和歌における、宗祇の連歌における、
雪舟の絵における、利休が茶における、
其の貫道する物は一なり
Saigyo for waka, Sogi for linked verse,
Sesshu for painting, Rikyu in the tea ceremony —
- there is a single thread running through their art.
- the fundamental principle is the same.
- There is one thing that permeates.
- One thread unites them.
- one thread runs through the artistic Ways.
Oi no Kobumi 笈の小文 Knapsack
- Reference -
Introduction - Oi no Kobumi
"Heels torn, I am the same as Saigyo, and I think of him at the Tenryu ferry. Renting a horse, I conjure up in my mind the sage who became furious. In the beautiful spectacles of the mountains, field, ocean and coast, I see the achievement of the creation.
Or I follow the trails left by those who, completely unattached, pursued the Way, or I try to fathom the truth expressed by those with poetic sensibility."
"In the beautiful spectacles of the mountains, field, ocean and coast, I see the achievement of the creation."
" I see the achievement of the creation. Or I follow the trails left by those who, completely unattached, pursued the Way, or I try to fathom the truth expressed by those with poetic sensibility."
Tr. Hiroaki Sato
MORE
source : worldhaikureview
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quote
Basho Hokku - A selection of Makoto Ueda's translations
Basho and His Interpreters: Selected Hokku with Commentary
by Makoto Ueda
The following list of sixty-four (64) of the two-hundred-fifty-six (256) hokku translations by Ueda stand out for their emphasis on the verbs or have one or more lines in a verse ending with a verb. They are 25% of the book’s translated hokku.
The following list of sixty-four (64) of the two-hundred-fifty-six (256) hokku translations by Ueda stand out for their emphasis on the verbs or have one or more lines in a verse ending with a verb. They are 25% of the book’s translated hokku.
*Note that all of the Basho hokku presented in the book use verbs in their normal context. None stretch the meaning for the sake of novelty or added surprise.
source : Elaine Andre
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quote
“The Master often said:
‘Those who limit themselves with formal rules and seek conceptual principles should be ranked in the middle level, while those who go beyond formal rules and forget (wasure) conceptual principles are the immortals of the art.’”
To “go beyond formal rules and forget conceptual principles” is to eliminate the subjective and conceptual consciousness.
It has been noted that “forgetting” was the mental state Bashô pursued in his old age, and he believed that this mental state was essential to achieve karumi.
In a haibun written one year before his death, Bashô says:
"People who lack wisdom have a lot of thoughts.
People who excel in an art due to worldly concerns are also good at distinguishing “right” and “wrong.”
Holding the “right” as their way to live, their hearts suffer in the hell of desires, and, drowned in these shallow ditches, they cannot produce true art. I would say following the old immortal Nanhua’s words to do away with fame and profit, to forget years, and to be in idleness — this is the happiness of my old age.
To “forget years” is an allusion to the second chapter of the Zhuangzi. It implies a mental preparation for attaining the Dao.
In Chinese literature, the term “forget” is used in both epistemological and spiritual ways. When designating a spiritual realm, “forget” (C. wang; J. wasure) suggests the elimination of worldly concerns. As seen in earlier chapters, doing away with fame and profit and forgetting worldly worries are major themes in Bashô’s work.
Yet the importance of “forgetting” in haikai theory, as Bashô accentuated increasingly in his later writings, lies in its epistemological implication: forgetting as a primary way to enter emptiness and limitlessness, the ideal state in which to attain the Dao.
source : Basho-and-the-Dao - Peipei-Qiu
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source : www.library.metro.tokyo.jp
Basho Portrait by Watanabe Kazan 渡辺崋山
(1793 - 1841)
Scholar of rangaku Western Learning
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. WKD : Haiku - the Poetry of Nouns .
. WKD : What is Basho's style? .
. Cut and cut markers used by Basho .
kire 切れ the CUT and kireji 切字 cut markers
. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .
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