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
"It would be good for you to see from practice that your following stanza suits the previous one as an expression of the same heart’s connection."
Basho told Doho, with remarkable clarity and succinctness, the nature of his mastery of linking verses.
-------------------------------
To embroider she prefers the threads of a cascade
Otowa Falls in the wind 2: 26 Princess goes to a pine
Superior one, 2: 39
forget not the hard times use them well
Fancy hairstyle tied up with ornamental comb
Getting married – 2: 39 second time, returning ( ) to avoid trouble
From the brothel 2:47 moon among the clouds returns home
The form of a virgin her white satin obi
Lovers speak hesitantly as firefly crawls out robe
Along with the Buddha 2: 58 short night in a dream
Droplets from the spear of Bishamon autumn in our land
The heads of heathen 2: 63 descend with the moon
As naked seeds blossoms now return to their roots
Bath water bottom 2: 71 dragon palace spring
Roadhouse hooker or Sea-God’s daughter, which is she? Age of the Gods unheard love for a hundred coins
Bowing with respect 2: 72 to that precious treasure, the Pillow Book
Her long sleeves’ 2: 75 fine silk, yet beard is being born
The fate of Komachi
to female-impersonate
Storehouses and fences overgrown with water weeds
Seen by morning, 2:84 woman who stayed the night, Goddess of Poverty
To join with a widow, he pounds robe of love
Man who left 2:91 cared only for money, autumn passes
His old haori jacket makes the young look old
Soundly, so soundly 2:101 the babe in remembrance is put to sleep
“Weak as green willow” 2: 139 the wife is despised
‘Path of blood’ her day by day misery in the spring rain
She drops a tea bag 2: 139 in steam from her chest
How many moons 2: 149 shall young pines be hidden in your belly
Asking the servant girl beside the cliff, no reply
Spring water flows 2: 149 on the shore, will you stand against the current?
Since Ki no Tsurayuki the moon at daybreak
Eight hundred years 2: 169 the light of his lantern surviving the dew
Once again he is thrown Maruyama marked black
Half of go board 2: 176 all over eastern Kyoto blossoms scatter
The warriors’ sword exhibition gets violent Woman soon cry out so they are banished
Appearance 2:200 warped by a mirror, her resentment
Miracles from 2: 210 offerings to the Goddess shining on blossoms
Bird of good fortune builds nest with hemp
On the stage forlorn cry from a humble cottage, Without virtue loud squeal of surprise at the scene
A dog being stabbed 2: 214 that voice is so sad
Where is the storm? curtain room shivers
The woman’s shadow 2: 215 seems to have returned – awesome her traces
The Mouse and the Ox entrusted to the Tiger
Chaos rides 2: 217 on Green to play with the Energy
Wretched in the dew 2: 221 my wife’s fallen hair
Speaking of love,
in the mirror her face still I can see
Engulfed by passion to kill younger brother
Sound deepens, 2: 243 the pine wood door he pries open
In a daydream boiling rice until evening comes
No concern for others 2: 253 just waiting to die
Are these pines 2: 259 on Love Cape the daughter’s wedding ornament?
Vows for life remaining snow shines to the divine
In the summer of 1681, Basho wrote a letter to his follower Biji containing five points of advice on how to express in poetry. Here are four of them. Basho repeatedly rejects “oldness” in favor of “newness” (although he does not use that word until 1686)
When a following stanza completely fits the previous one, we can say this is the old style or the somewhat old style
Without a sense for ordinary words as precious, you will get mixed up in an old style.
An elaborately constructed verse is useless.
A verse may have extra sound-units, three, four, or even five or seven; if the rhythm of the phrase coming out your mouth is natural, it is okay – however if even one sound stagnates in your mouth, you must scrutinize the expression.
The aged nun has a story to tell us
Filled with pity, 2:261 her message to rescue abandoned child
A deer pulls the sleeve of someone in the village
… the following stanza suits the previous one as an expression of the same heart’s connection...
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