Foreign Language Friday: On Love and Barley- Haiku of Basho

Dear Blog,

Since today I am

reviewing a book of Basho's
haiku poetry,


I shall write all that
I can in the haiku form.
Fun, but kind of hard.

Name: On Love and Barley- Haiku of Basho

Written by: Matsuo Kinsaku (later known as Matsuo Basho)

Originally Published in: Japanese

Translated by: various people down the centuries, but this edition was done by Lucien Stryk

Summary (from Goodreads): Basho, one of the greatest of Japanese poets and the master of haiku, was also a Buddhist monk and a life-long traveller. His poems combine 'karumi', or lightness of touch, with the Zen ideal of oneness with creation. Each poem evokes the natural world - the cherry blossom, the leaping frog, the summer moon or the winter snow - suggesting the smallness of human life in comparison to the vastness and drama of nature. Basho himself enjoyed solitude and a life free from possessions, and his haiku are the work of an observant eye and a meditative mind, uncluttered by materialism and alive to the beauty of the world around him.

Review: You may or may not

know that I love haiku-  I

write some myself now

and again.  But I

feel kind of depressed when I

think about how mine

pale compared to the

beauty and simplicity

of Basho's poems.

Basho is the sort of

inspirational person
I wish I could meet.


And why do I like

them so much?  Well, Basho is

master of haiku.

He revived the form-

brought new life to the rules and

strictness of Haiku. 

He often broke

the form

throwing away rules

syllables-

drifting here

and there.

His poems seem both

disconnected and

full of nature, real;

minimalism

of Zen Buddhism echoes

through his work; calm and

uncluttered with the

everyday chaos of

normality and

such.  Like you can see

the flower's petals unfold
slowly but surely,


for example.  And
so Basho observes it with
curiosity.


I guess I better

give a few examples of

Basho's haiku.  So:

Together let's eat

shears of wheat

share a grass pillow

Old pond,

leap-splash

a frog.

Come, see real

flowers

of this painful world.

No hat, and cold

rain falling-

well!

Wake, butterfly-

it's late, we've miles

to go together.

Summary: Basho is a truly, truly brilliant poet and although it only takes a matter of seconds to read one of his haiku, they stay in your head for ages afterwards and really make you think about the world in a simplistic sort of way. Plus they're short and easy to remember, so read the book a couple of times and impress your friends by reciting half of them off the top of your head. Rating: 5.


Last but not least, the
final poem that Basho
wrote before he died:


Sick on a journey-
over parched fields
dreams wander on.