The only substantial collection in English of Basho's renku, tanka, letters and spoken word along with his haiku, travel journals, and essays.
The only poet in old-time literature who paid attention with praise to ordinary women, children, and teenagers in hundreds of poems
Hundreds upon hundreds of Basho works (mostly renku)about women, children, teenagers, friendship, compassion, love.
These are resources we can use to better understand ourselves and humanity.
Interesting and heartfelt (not scholarly and boring) for anyone concerned with humanity.
“An astonishing range of social subject matter and compassionate intuition”
"The primordial power of the feminine emanating from Basho's poetry"
Hopeful, life-affirming messages from one of the greatest minds ever.
Through his letters, we travel through his mind and discover Basho's gentleness and humanity.
I plead for your help in finding a person or group to take over my 3000 pages of Basho material, to edit and improve the material, to receive 100% of royalties, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide and preserve for future generations.
Quotations from Basho Prose
The days and months are guests passing through eternity. The years that go by also are travelers.
The mountains in silence nurture the spirit; the water with movement calms the emotions.
All the more joyful, all the more caring
Seek not the traces of the ancients; seek rather the places they sought.
Basho Spoken Word
Only this, apply your heart to what children do
"The attachment to Oldness is the very worst disease a poet can have."
“The skillful have a disease; let a three-foot child get the poem"
"Be sick and tired of yesterday’s self."
"This is the path of a fresh lively taste with aliveness in both heart and words." .
"In poetry is a realm which cannot be taught. You must pass through it yourself. Some poets have made no effort to pass through, merely counting things and trying to remember them. There was no passing through the things."
"In verses of other poets, there is too much making and the heart’s immediacy is lost. What is made from the heart is good; the product of words shall not be preferred."
"We can live without poetry, yet without harmonizing with the world’s feeling and passing not through human feeling, a person cannot be fulfilled. Also, without good friends, this would be difficult."
"Poetry benefits from the realization of ordinary words."
"Many of my followers write haiku equal to mine, however in renku is the bone marrow of this old man."
"Your following stanza should suit the previous one as an expression of the same heart's connection."
"Link verses the way children play."
"Make renku ride the Energy. Get the timing wrong, you ruin the rhythm."
"The physical form first of all must be graceful then a musical quality makes a superior verse."
"As the years passed by to half a century. asleep I hovered among morning clouds and evening dusk, awake I was astonished at the voices of mountain streams and wild birds."
“These flies sure enjoy having an unexpected sick person.”
Haiku of Humanity
Drunk on sake woman wearing haori puts in a sword
Night in spring one hidden in mystery temple corner
Wrapping rice cake with one hands she tucks hair behind ear
On Life's journey plowing a small field going and returning
Child of poverty hulling rice, pauses to look at the moon
Tone so clear the Big Dipper resounds her mallet
Huddling under the futon, cold horrible night
Jar cracks with the ice at night awakening
Basho Renku Masterpieces
With her needle in autumn she manages to make ends meet Daughter playing koto reaches age seven
After the years of grieving. . . finally past eighteen Day and night dreams of Father in that battle
Now to this brothel my body has been sold Can I trust you with a letter I wrote, mirror polisher?
Only my face by rice-seedling mud is not soiled Breastfeeding on my lap what dreams do you see?
Single renku stanzas
Giving birth to love in the world, she adorns herself
Autumn wind saying not a word child in tears
Among women one allowed to lead them in chorus
Easing in her slender forearm for his pillow
Two death poems:
On a journey taken ill dreams on withered fields wander about
Clear cascade - into the ripples fall green pine needles
Here is information about Jeff Robbins, the translator and interpreter, long-time research assistant Sakata Shoko, the 300 articles of this homepage, and the four planned books.
Take Back the Sun: Basho Tells Herstory
What Children Do: Basho Praises the Young
Dear Uncle Basho: Poet of Humanity
Letters from Basho: Journey through his mind
I am an American who has lived in Japan for three decades; the company I created, Asabo Workshop, designs, builds, and sells developmental play equipment for children. I have studied and translated Basho for more than thirty years as a hobby, without university affiliation.
I am amazed that Basho is the most famous of all Japanese poets, yet so, so much of his work is unknown both in Japan and the West. It appalls me that his magnificent observations of humanity are unknown to humanity, are not taught in schools, do not appear in books and journals, are not cited by historians, sociologists, anthropologists worldwide. In this world of so much negativity and sensationalism, we need Basho’s positive, life-affirming works to remind us of what Sam (Sean Astin) said in the Lord of the Rings:
There’s some good in the world and it’s worth fighting for.
There is much good in Basho and it’s worth fighting to overcome the judgments of Basho - “literary”, “impersonal”, “old,” “lonely” - by people who have no knowledge at all of his works on humanity; to overcome the assumptions - that of Basho has been translated and published many time, that they have done a good job in presenting Basho, that we've seen enough of Basho and don't need to see anymore - by scholars who know little to nothing of his major form of poetry, renku, of his letters and spoken word.
The unknown works of Basho - only found in Basho4Humanity - are the earliest, and more numerous, diverse, and insightful form of feminism in World Literature; they can and would inspire and empower millions of women if anyone would look at them with being disabled by the above judgments and assumptions. Basho's portraits of children belong in every course studying children and they delopment.
His verses can offer vital information to sociology and anthropology. I hope you will communicate with me any ways you can help distribute the material in the 300 articles of Basho4Humanity.
The problem is, however, no one ever accepts my contribution; for thirty-five I have not found a single person who would read my works or listen to my discussions (of course, there have been a few exceptions, but they did not last for long.) So I have no choice but to die with the hope that after my death someone will pick up Basho4Humanity and make it go viral.
Jeff Robbins basho4humanity@gmail.com
Sakata Shoko is a certified Instructor in Japanese Language, and mother of two small daughters, She corrects my countless misunderstandings of her language, helps me recognize the meanings only a native Japanese can see, searches for information on the Japanese Internet and in her electronic encyclopedia, and in Professor Kon’s commentaries.
One day she said, “When I was in high school. I knew Basho was great, but I never thought his haiku had anything to do with my life.” So I asked her, after all her recent study and translating of Basho, what does she think now? Shoko replied:
“Students learn Basho and some other poets as part of History of Japanese Literature, then recite some of their famous verses for an exam. We have nothing more than this. We don’t appreciate it, don’t see where and how they lived. And haiku was just an art, not part of life.
Now I know some of his background and feel a sort of affinity. He was a human being like me, who lived with passion for literature. My image has changed from Haiku Saint Basho to dear Uncle Basho. I think this is important to appreciate the verses. Now I feel one verse is funny, the others are serious, and some are interesting. I can sympathize with his works. I say to high school teachers, should we understand the Haiku Saint’s humanity, not only for exams, but also for diffusing haiku towards younger people?
Now some flowers, trees, weather, foods, and people too, remind me of his connected haiku.
Basho has become a familiar part of my life, which is just fun.”
The Basho4Humanity Quartet
Here are 1000 pages in four introductions and four collections,
Items by Basho number 635 (some appearing multiple times):
250 haiku 3 tanka poems
360 stanzas of Basho linked verse
passages of Basho prose, sections from his letters
45 passages of spoken word recorded by followers–
Of these 700 items, only about 300 -- just the haiku, many of the prose passages, a few bits of letters, a few stanzas of linked verse -- appear elsewhere in English.
The Yellow Volume offers 270 items about a woman or women, including three poems on breastfeeding,
15 pages of letters to women, and a 20-page chapter on brothel slavery.
The Green Volume: 210 items about children, teens, and caregivers, including many poems the smallest reader can learn to read from, Basho’s prose and poem of blessing to a newborn baby girl,and a dozen poems about the experience of teenagers.
The Red Volume contains a chapter of Basho’s comic parodies, followed by one with 35 verses about love and lust, then five chapters exploring men and masculinity, and many more about countless aspects of maleness as well as humanity in general.
The Purple Volume contains 60 Basho letters -- some in full, some in sections -- selected to reveal Basho’s profound sense of humanity, compassion, and caring for others. The letters, like the prose, are presented in poetic lines, and may be read as a form of poetry.
Donation of Royalties
To die without dying out is to live long
Basho translating Lao Tzu
When you can’t take it with you, all that really matters is what you leave behind
Howard Lyman
To ‘leave behind’ Basho, to bring these vital life-giving works to world consciousness, to pass this amazing legacy of deeply personal poetry about women onto future generations – this is my mission --but I believe that I can better spread consciousness of Basho’s works on women by linking them with the empowerment of women now.
The author hopes to transfer rights to the Basho4now trilogy to a person, organization, university, or foundation who will spread Basho’s life-giving and inspirational works to ALL of humanity while using part of the royalties to assist women and children in need.
The organization or person to which I give rights and royalties can set the price for future editions, find a different publisher, put its name on the cover, further edit the book, and add material about their work helping women to the next page: I pray that such a person or organization will come forth.
basho4humanity@gmail.com
…the astonishing range of social subject matter and compassionate intuition that Basho reveals in his links.
Michele Root-Bernstein Ph.D
Department of Theater
Michigan State University
The casual, often irreverent humor and utterly likeable voice of the narrative make it irresistible reading. It is easy to imagine intelligent readers of many ages and walks of life enjoying this loving meditation on Basho.
“ (this book) welcomes us into…a deeper understanding of this great poet’s humanity, and in particular, of his clear respect, affection, and even reverence, for women.”
Your fresh treatment of Basho’s poem, paired with the upstart voice that welcomes us to relax and enjoy their tenderness, should easily find audiences who appreciate your quirky,
stream-of-consciousness approach.
Ceci Miller
Editorial Consultant
Seattle Wash.
I particularly enjoyed Jeff Robbins’ insightful new translations of some of Basho’s haiku. I have always felt haiku to be a uniquely Japanese form of expression which I have just not been able to understand. However through Robbins’ careful and beautifully thought-out translations and explanations, the art has suddenly become more animated, which was a surprising and unforeseen outcome when I first picked up the book.
I plead for your help in finding a person or group to take over my 3000 pages of Basho material, to edit and improve the presentation, to receive all royalties from sales, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide and preserve for future generations.
The only substantial collection in English of Basho's renku, tanka, letters and spoken word along with his haiku, travel journals, and essays.
The only poet in old-time literature who paid attention with praise to ordinary women, children, and teenagers in hundreds of poems
Hundreds upon hundreds of Basho works (mostly renku)about women, children, teenagers, friendship, compassion, love.
These are resources we can use to better understand ourselves and humanity.
Interesting and heartfelt (not scholarly and boring) for anyone concerned with humanity.
“An astonishing range of social subject matter and compassionate intuition”
"The primordial power of the feminine emanating from Basho's poetry"
Hopeful, life-affirming messages from one of the greatest minds ever.
Through his letters, we travel through his mind and discover Basho's gentleness and humanity.
I plead for your help in finding a person or group to take over my 3000 pages of Basho material, to edit and improve the material, to receive 100% of royalties, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide and preserve for future generations.
Quotations from Basho Prose
The days and months are guests passing through eternity. The years that go by also are travelers.
The mountains in silence nurture the spirit; the water with movement calms the emotions.
All the more joyful, all the more caring
Seek not the traces of the ancients; seek rather the places they sought.
Basho Spoken Word
Only this, apply your heart to what children do
"The attachment to Oldness is the very worst disease a poet can have."
“The skillful have a disease; let a three-foot child get the poem"
"Be sick and tired of yesterday’s self."
"This is the path of a fresh lively taste with aliveness in both heart and words." .
"In poetry is a realm which cannot be taught. You must pass through it yourself. Some poets have made no effort to pass through, merely counting things and trying to remember them. There was no passing through the things."
"In verses of other poets, there is too much making and the heart’s immediacy is lost. What is made from the heart is good; the product of words shall not be preferred."
"We can live without poetry, yet without harmonizing with the world’s feeling and passing not through human feeling, a person cannot be fulfilled. Also, without good friends, this would be difficult."
"Poetry benefits from the realization of ordinary words."
"Many of my followers write haiku equal to mine, however in renku is the bone marrow of this old man."
"Your following stanza should suit the previous one as an expression of the same heart's connection."
"Link verses the way children play."
"Make renku ride the Energy. Get the timing wrong, you ruin the rhythm."
"The physical form first of all must be graceful then a musical quality makes a superior verse."
"As the years passed by to half a century. asleep I hovered among morning clouds and evening dusk, awake I was astonished at the voices of mountain streams and wild birds."
“These flies sure enjoy having an unexpected sick person.”
Haiku of Humanity
Drunk on sake woman wearing haori puts in a sword
Night in spring one hidden in mystery temple corner
Wrapping rice cake with one hands she tucks hair behind ear
On Life's journey plowing a small field going and returning
Child of poverty hulling rice, pauses to look at the moon
Tone so clear the Big Dipper resounds her mallet
Huddling under the futon, cold horrible night
Jar cracks with the ice at night awakening
Basho Renku Masterpieces
With her needle in autumn she manages to make ends meet Daughter playing koto reaches age seven
After the years of grieving. . . finally past eighteen Day and night dreams of Father in that battle
Now to this brothel my body has been sold Can I trust you with a letter I wrote, mirror polisher?
Only my face by rice-seedling mud is not soiled Breastfeeding on my lap what dreams do you see?
Single renku stanzas
Giving birth to love in the world, she adorns herself
Autumn wind saying not a word child in tears
Among women one allowed to lead them in chorus
Easing in her slender forearm for his pillow
Two death poems:
On a journey taken ill dreams on withered fields wander about
Clear cascade - into the ripples fall green pine needles
