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• The Human Story:
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• On Translating Basho
• Basho Himself
• Poetry and Music
• The Physical Body
• Food, Drink, and Fire
• Animals in Basho
• Space and Time
• Letters Year by Year
• Bilingual Basho 日本語も
• 芭蕉について日本語の論文
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• New Articles


Matsuo Basho 1644~1694

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




basho4humanity
@gmail.com




Plea for Affiliation

 

Plea For Affiliation

 

I pray for your help

in finding someone
individual, university,

or foundation - 
to take over my

3000 pages of material,   
to cooperate with me 

to edit the material,
to receive all royalties 

from sales, to spread

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and preserve for

future generations.


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Home  >  Topics  >  Basho Tsukeku 芭蕉付句  >  K-01


Basho Tsukeku 1 A

Tsukeku from 1665 to 1678 日本語の原文

Legend:
Words of Basho in bold
Words of other poets not bold

From volume 1 of the Basho Renku Zenchuukai: Tsukeku written from 1665 to 1678

芭蕉連句全注解、一冊から付句. Also many passages of Basho Spoken Word. 日本語もRomanization given.

 

Selected, Translated, and Explored by Jeff Robbins

 

Words of Basho in this font, bold
Words of other poets in same font, not bold

 

This is the first of ten sections containing 416 Basho stanzas along with stanzas by other poets that compliment Basho’s visions of humanity; Explore with me

“the astonishing range of social subject matter and compassionate intuition

 that Basho reveals in his links.”

                                                                     Michele Root-Bernstein, PhD

 

The BRZ volume number and page number for each Basho stanza is given to the right of first line of the verse. These numbers will enable you to find the commentary to each tsukeku in the corresponding B section

 

Papier-mache bald, but
she will not throw away.
Today as is,
wishing to care for it
till Doll’s Festival
Till the twilight crescent                        1: 5
shall ladle peach wine
Calm peaceful
magical thinking cannot
be surpassed

 

兀田 頼子 も / 捨てぬ わらはべ

けふあると /もてはやし けり / 雛 迄

月 の 暮れ まで / 汲む もも の 酒

長閑なる/仙の遊にし/くはあらじ

 

Hageta hariko mo / sutenu warawa be

Kyō aru to / motehayashi keri / hiina made

Tsuki no kure made /kumu momo no sake

Nodoka naru /sen no yuu ni shi / kuwa araji

 

Confusion
between path of truth
and path of love
Unable to proceed                                 1:9
dark night of futility

 

まどはれな / 実 の 道 や / 恋 の 道

ならで通えば / 無性 闇 夜

Madoware na / makota no michi ya / koi no michi

Narade tōeba / mushō yami no yo

 

 

Moon at dawn                                       1: 15
only my shadow figure
for a friend
Still deep in the night
a lonesome traveler

 

在明 の / 影 法師 のみ / 友と して

未だ 夜 深き に/ ひとり たびびと

 

Ariake no / kagebōshi nomi / tomo o shite

Mada yoru fukaki ni / hitori tabibito

 

So it will not melt                                   1:17
this ice we dedicate
New Year’s dawn
the morning sun a faint
glimmering

 

解けぬやうにと/氷りささぐる

あけて今朝 /あさ日ほのぼの /ほのめきて

 

Tokenu you ni to /kouri sasaguru

Akete kesa /asahi honobono / honomekite

 

“Like the Goddess
of Spring” our princess
is neat and tidy
Green willow her hips
and hair like willows
Weary of waiting                                  1:18
wind through the pines
also is longing

 

佐保 姫 と/ 言ん 姫 御 の /身 だしなみ

青 柳 腰 / ゆふ 柳 髪

待ち あぐみ / 松 吹 風 も / なつかし や

 

Sayohime to / iwan himegumi no / mi-dashinami

Aoyanagi koshi / yuu yanagi-gami

Machi-agumi / matsu fuku kaze mo / natsukashi ya

 

 

Starting to learn
the alphabet from
ra-mu-u-i-no
Foolishness has stopped,                               1:21
youngster in the bedroom

 

いろはおば /らむういのより/習い初め

わるさもやみし/閨の稚い

 

Iroha oba / ra-mu-u-i-no yori /narai-some

Warusa mo yamishi / neya no osaai

 

Worship of Big Dipper
shrine ritual admirable
Setting forth
the prospects of the boat
are our concern
Family lives with tears
while the journey lasts

 

北斗を祭る儀式殊勝や

出し初る舟の行衛を気遣れ

涙でくらす旅の留主中

 

Hokuto o matsuru / gishiki shushou ya

Deshi somuru / fune no ikue o / ki-zukaware

Namida de kurasu / tabi no rushuchuu

 

Starting to flirt
hair parted in middle
becomes glossy
So a vision emerges                             1:24
from back of her head

 

だてなりし / ふり分け 髪 は / のび ねる や

俤 に たつ / かの うしろ つき

 

Date-narishi / furiwake kami wa / nobi neru ya

omokage ni tatsu / kano ushiro-zuki

 

After such a long time
he seeks her pardon
An employee                                          1:28
has leisure time only
in others’ eyes

 

久しぶり にて/ 訪 妹 が 許

奉公の / 隙 も 余所 目 の / 隙 と みつ

Hisashiburi nite / tō imo ga gari

hōkō no / hima mo yoso me no / hima to mitsu

 

Quietly descending
hand of the dancer
More than appears                                   1:31
a small child is obedient
to the Energy

 

いとも 静 な / 舞 の 手 くだり

見かけより/ 気 は おとなしき / 小 児 にて

 

Ito mo shizuka na / mai no te kudari

Mikake yori / ki wa otonashiki / ko chigo nite

 

Right or wrong –
from shadow of pines
he emerges
Impatient with people
who provoke with words
When pushed                                       1:34
again pushing back
in a crowd

 

是非ともに あの松影へ御であれ

堪忍ならぬ /詞からかい

おされては /又押し返す /人込みに

 

Zehi tomo ni / ano matsu kage e / ou deare

Kannin naranu / kotoba karakai

Osarete wa / mata oshikaesu / hitogomi ni

 

 

After a quarrel
the soft rubbing sounds
of hands wringing
White tissue paper                                 1:63
soaked by her tears

 

口舌事 / 手をさらさらと / おしもんで

しら紙ひたす/ 涙也けり

 

Kusetsu-goto / te o sara sara to / oshimonde

Shira kami hitasu / namida nari kere

 

River wind so cold                                        1:91
midnight to the outhouse
Leaving Kyoto                                                1:92
today Mika no Hara
belly painful

 

川かぜ寒き / 夜半の雪隠

都出て/ けふみかのはら / いたむらし

 

Kawa kaze samuki / yohan no setchan

Miyako idete / kyō mika no hara / itamurashi

 

Awaji Island
away from methods, see
another place
Birds calling together                                       1:102
their laughing voices

 

淡路嶋 / 仕形ばなしの /余所にみて

とも呼ぶ鳥の / 笑ひごえなる

 

Awaji Island / shikata banashi no / yoso ni mite

Tomo yobu tori no / warai-goe naru

 

As the goddess Lakshmi                           1:105
so radiant a moon
Auspicious
her headdress on mountain
clouds at dawn

 

吉祥天女も /これほどの月

あつらえの瓔洛かくる山かづら

 

Kichijou tennyo / kore hodo no tsuki

Atsurae no / yokuraku kakuru / yama kazura

 

This morning’s snow                                   1: 107
poor woman with one cent
melts the Dharma
Wind as bamboo spatula
pares down personal wealth
Like a navel cord                                      1:107
his visits to the brothel
shall be cut off
He resents the thunder
of the midnight drum

 

今朝の / 雪貧女一文が / 糊をとく

風進退を / 削る竹べら

臍の緒を / 吉原がよい /きれはてて

かみなりの 太鼓 / うらめしの中

 

Kesa no yuki / hinnyo ichimon ga / nori o toku

Kaze shindai o / kezuru take bera

Heso no o o / Yoshiwara ga yoi / kire hatete

Kaminari no taiko / urameshi no naka

 

In the first stanza Basho wrote nori with the kanji for paste (糊) as wordplay; he knew the Japanese reader would see the other nori (法) for the Dharma, or “law” of Buddhism that all things must die and return.

 

 

From the kitchen calls                                   1:120
voice of a servant girl
Passageway
to the second-story
a bit far, but. . .

 

台所より /下女のよびごえ

通路の /二階はすこし / 遠けれど

 

Daitokoro yori / gejo no yobigoe

Tsuuro no / nikai wa sukoshi / tōkeredo

 

For you, my dear,
a red silk underskirt
of crimson leaves
Vows made, in autumn                                           1:127
she became pregnant

 

君ここに /もみのニ布の /下紅葉

契りし秋は /産妻なりけり

 

Kimi koko ni / momiji no futano no / shita momiji

Chigirishi aki wa / ubume narikeri

 

 

Heavenly feather robe
airing in the hot season
Shell discarded                                               1:141
in Yoshino mountains
strumming koto
Wind through the leaves
blows the bamboo flute
His hermitage                                                   1:142
among pines and cedars
outside Kyoto

 

実土用なり / あまの羽衣

うつせみも / 吉野の山に / 琴弾きて

青嵐ふく / ひとよぎりふく

松杉の / 木の間の庵 / 京ばなれ

 

Geni doyō nari / ama no hane-goromo

Utsusemi mo / yoshino no yama ni/ koto hikite

Ao arashi fuku / hitoyogiri fuku

Matsu sugi no / ki no ma no an / kyō-banare

 

 

Family relationships                                       1: 147
are difficult to escape
In this world
when there are daimyo
are merchants too
The willow is green                                       1: 147
credit pulls you in

 

親類分は / のがれがたしや

世の中よ / 大名あれば / 町人あり

柳は緑 / かけは取りがち

 

Shinseki bun wa / nogare-gatashi ya

Yo no naka yo / daimyou areba / tojin ari

Yanagi wa midori / kake wa tori-gachi

 

 

That night Mount Fuji                                        1:155
with Mount Tray-on-legs
Plane shavings
lit by pine torch, burst
into flames

 

その夜の富士に / 足打の山

かんな屑 /だいまつはつと / ふりたてて

 

Sono ya no fuji ni / ashi uchi no yama

Kanna kuzu / taimatsu hatsu to / furitatete

 

Village showers
bisexuals go crazy
either way
People die for love                                       1:157
the wind makes a sound
Water flowing
on sleeves cannot quench
the great fire

 

村時雨 衆道ぐるひの 二道に

人死の恋風さはぐなり

大火事を袖行く水に ふせぎかね

 

Mura shigure / shudō-gurui no / futa michi ni

Hitojini no koi / kaze sawagu nari

Ou kaji wo / sode yuku mizu ni / fusegikane

 

Benevelence from above                                          1: 164
reduces cost of rice

 

慈悲はかみより/さがる米の値

Jihi wa kami yori / sagaru kome no ne

 

Well, that’s that!                                                      1:187
yesterday has passed
globefish soup
Noticing the coldness
to the tip of my toes

 

あら何とも /なやきのふは過ぎて / 河豚汁

寒さ しさつて /足 の 先 まで

Ara nani to mo / na ya kinou wa sugite / fuguto-jiru

Samusa shisatte / ashi no saki made

 

After several
cups of wine . . . sadly
past sunset
The moon as long ago                                          1:197
old friends now granddads

 

一ニ献 / 跡はさびしく /くれすぎて

月はむかしの / 親仁友達

 

Ichi ni kon / ato ha sabishiku / kure sugite

Tsuki wa mukashi no / oyaji tomodachi

 

Are you calling
for a horse to borrow?
ho-toto-GI-su
Woods in morning shade                                            1: 207
aren’t you really a fox?

飛乗の / 馬からからふと / 時鳥

森の朝影 / 狐ではないか

 

Tobinori no /uma kara karau / hototogisu

Mori no asa kage / kitsune de wa nai ka

 

 

Ragged and tattered                                                1:210
the goddess works at night
as maple leaves fall
In smoke from the lantern
she appears as the Moon

 

つづれとや / 仙女の夜なべ / 散紅葉

瓦灯 の 煙 に / 俤 の 月

 

Tsuzure to ya / sennyo no yonabe / chiru momiji

Gatou no kemuri ni / omokage no tsuki

 

 

From green face                                            1: 223
of laughing mountain
Spring is seen
Earthenware cascade
drink all you can drink
Voices rising
in a storm on the waves
a tour boat
Wild geese! Plovers!                                               1: 224
these fools are friends

 

青いつら / 笑山より /春 見えて

かはらけの瀧の / めばのむほど

声がたつ/ 嵐に波の / 遊山舟

雁よ千鳥よ / あはう友達

 

Aoi tsura / warau yama yori / haru miete

Kawarake no tatsu no meba nomu hodo

Koe ga tatsu / arashi ni nami no / yusanbune

Kari yo chidori yo / ohou tomodachi

 

Mother of a lost child                                                    1:234
is your pelvis upset?

 

迷ひ子の母 腰がぬけたか

Mayoi go no haha / koshi ga nuketa ka

 

 

Nine year old                                                            1:238
high priest’s high spirits
last the autumn

 

Juusai no / oshō no uwaki / aki fukete

十歳の / 和向の 上気 / 秋 更けて

 

Young guys are drawn to                                         1:239
waves of doorway curtain
Bloated faces
drowned in the watery
pool of love

 

わかいものよる / のうれんの波

恋の渕 / 水におぼるる /人相有

 

Wakai mono yoru / nōren no nami

Koi no fuchi / mizu ni oboruru / ninsō ari

 

From one thousand                                               1: 247
verses to ten trillion
at tip of nose

 

千句より / 十万億も / 鼻の先

Senku yori / juu man oku mo / hana no saki

 

The traveller’s
greasy smell on the pillow
so disgusting!
Sardines are roasted by                                        1:253
inconstancy of their vows

 

旅 枕 油 くさきや / 嫌うらん

鰯 で かりの / 契り やかるる

Tabi makura / abura kusasa ya / kirauran

Iwashi de kari no / chigiri yakaruru

 

 

In the 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 prefered.

 

 

或る人の句は、作に過ぎて心の直ぐを失ふなり。

心の作はよし、詞の作は好むべからず。

 

Aru hito no ku wa, saku ni sugite kokoro no massagu o ushinau nari.

Kokoro no saku wa yoshi, kotoba no saku wa konomu bekarazu.

 

 

Father a minister of state
his wealth gone in spring                                   1: 270
Personal items
and a twelve layer robe
of faint mist

 

父大臣の / かねつぶす春

手道具や / 十二一重の /薄霞

 

Chichi daijin no / kane tsubusu haru

Temichi gu ya / juuni hitoe no / usu-gasumi

 

Weak in love                                              1:282
the royal princess’s
royal words
Along with her nurse
she has an iron shield

 

恋よわし / 内親王の / 御言葉

乳母さえあらば /くるがねの楯

 

Koi yowashi / naishinnō no / on-kotoba

Menoto sae araba / kurugane no tate

 

basho4humanity@gmail. com

 






<< 女性の5つのライフステージ (J-05 ) (K-02 ) Basho Tsukeku 2 A >>


The Three Thirds of Basho

 

 

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.

 

basho4humanity@gmail.com
Basho's thoughts on...

• Woman Central
• Introduction to this site
• The Human Story:
• Praise for Women
• Love and Sex in Basho
• Children and Teens
• Humanity and Friendship
• On Translating Basho
• Basho Himself
• Poetry and Music
• The Physical Body
• Food, Drink, and Fire
• Animals in Basho
• Space and Time
• Letters Year by Year
• Bilingual Basho 日本語も
• 芭蕉について日本語の論文
• Basho Tsukeku 芭蕉付句
• BAMHAY (Basho Amazes Me! How About You?)
• New Articles


Matsuo Basho 1644~1694

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




basho4humanity
@gmail.com




Plea for Affiliation

 

Plea For Affiliation

 

I pray for your help

in finding someone
individual, university,

or foundation - 
to take over my

3000 pages of material,   
to cooperate with me 

to edit the material,
to receive all royalties 

from sales, to spread

Basho’s wisdom worldwide,
and preserve for

future generations.


basho4humanity

@gmail.com