Delphi Collected Works of Basho and the Haikuists (Illustrated)

By Matsuo Basho

The most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan, Matsuo Basho was of samurai descent and a Zen Buddhist, who became a master of haiku. He helped create a new style of poetry, capturing the meaning of the world into simple poetry. His work is celebrated for contrasting two separate experiences, reflecting the environment and emotions of a single moment, taken directly from nature. Haiku is a short form of poetry, composed of three phrases and 17 syllables. It has been employed by Basho and his fellow haikuists throughout the last five hundred years to convey an extraordinary depth of expression and ornate beauty. The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature’s finest poets, with superior formatting. This volume presents a wide selection of haiku by the leading poets of the last five centuries, with new translations, illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)

* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Basho’s life and works
* Comprehensive introduction to the haiku form
* Concise introduction to the life and poetry of Basho and other prominent haikuists
* Original translations by Michael Haldane
* Excellent formatting of the poems
* Includes a wide selection of haikuists
* Features two analytical works on the development of the haiku form

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CONTENTS:

Introduction
Introduction to Haiku by Michael Haldane

The Haiku
Prominent Haikuists
Other Haikuists

Analysis
Poetry of the Seventeenth Century by William George Aston
Japanese Poetry by Basil Hall Chamberlain

Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of poetry titles or buy the entire Delphi Poets Series as a Super Set

• Language: English
• Publisher: Delphi Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Jan 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781801700436

Book preview

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Bashō and the Haikuists

(1644-1694)

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Contents

Introduction

Introduction to Haiku by Michael Haldane

The Haiku

Prominent Haikuists

Other Haikuists

Analysis

Poetry of the Seventeenth Century by William George Aston

Japanese Poetry by Basil Hall Chamberlain

The Delphi Classics Catalogue

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© Delphi Classics 2022

Version 1

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Bashō and the Haikuists

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By Delphi Classics, 2022

COPYRIGHT

Bashō and the Haikuists - Delphi Poets Series

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First published in the United Kingdom in 2022 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2022.

The Haiku translations by Michael Haldane, 2006, appear in this collection by the kind permission of the author.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 80170 043 6

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

Delphi Publishing Ltd

Hastings, East Sussex

United Kingdom

Contact: [e-mail]

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www.delphiclassics.com

NOTE

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WHEN READING POETRY on an eReader, it is advisable to use a small font size and landscape mode, which will allow the lines of poetry to display correctly.

Introduction

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Ueno, a city in Mie Prefecture, Japan — Bashō’s birthplace

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Bashō’s supposed birthplace in Iga Province

Introduction to Haiku by Michael Haldane

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CONTENTS

1. Form

2. Methodology and Translation Techniques

3. Terminology

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‘Bashō meets two farmers celebrating the mid-autumn moon festival’, a print from Yoshitoshi’s ‘Hundred Aspects of the Moon’, 1891

1. Form

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A HAIKU CONSISTS of 17 onji (or morae) divided into lines of 5, 7 and 5 onji, and so it appears, at first sight, to be more symmetrical than the form from which it evolved, the tanka or waka (5, 7, 5, 7, 7 syllables).  We may think of the Chinese character for mountain (Chinese reading SEN; Japanese reading yama), in which the central peak is slightly higher than the side ones.  Yet this symmetry is deceptive, for these three divisions actually form two units, a phrase of 12 onji and a fragment of 5 onji. The effect of the haiku largely depends upon the juxtaposition of the two images presented in these two units.

An onji is a unit of sound; it may also be called a haku (in English, mora, a term from Latin prosody).  It is not quite the same as an English syllable: for example, ‘haiku’ is two syllables in English, but in Japanese, a language without diphthongs, ‘ha-i-ku’ is three onji.  Consequently 17 onji are roughly equivalent, in length and effect, to 11 or 12 syllables.  Much poetry in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish is based on a 10/11 syllable line, which tests have revealed to represent the length of a moment.  Japanese poetry, however, traditionally employed 5- and 7-onji lines in varying degrees of alternation, the 5-7-5-7-7 of the tanka being most popular.  By putting three of these lines together, the haiku forms a moment to Western ears – a slightly elongated moment, with two breaks, one major and one minor.

This division of a poem into three units is extremely rare; the majority of world poetry is binary and parallel in construction.  The ternary structure is almost unique to Japanese.  Most present translators reproduce it; very occasionally, a Japanese translator has rendered haiku, or tanka, into four-line English verse.  A substantial body of such verse already exists in English, and it is of a considerably higher standard than anything that Mr. Yuasa (The Narrow Road to the Deep North) and Mr. Honda (One Hundred Poems from One Hundred Poets) have to offer.  I do not simply want to know that the ternary division exists in the original; I wish to experience it.  There are also the heroic couplets of William Stewart, whom we may term ‘the last of the Augustans’.  It is a sobering thought that this book of translations has run through 25 printings; one is reminded of the translations of Chinese poetry by Arthur Waley, a great translator who always wrote superb prose.  Finally, there are the one-line translations of Hiroaki Sato, which are not a success; quite simply, anyone who attempts this approach is doomed.  In order to allow greater interplay between the constituent elements, it is necessary to cut the line, to set locks in the canal of thought; through division, we define stages of time and bestow depth and complexity on the relationships we have created.  It could be argued that we could place divisions within one line, to create a horizontal equivalent of the usual vertical effect, and this is certainly a possibility; however, the modern eye is trained to look for poetry in lines.

There is the danger that Westerners, in their attempt to come to terms with and appropriate the haiku, will restrict its range and make it