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.
You may think Basho only writes about impersonal nature scenes or lonely desolation, but here is a stanza-pair overflowing with male violence and passion driven by betrayel and testesterone.
Engulfed by passion to kill younger brother
Sound deepens, the door of pine wood he pries open
The first poet with only a half dozen words creates a scene of extreme emotion and terrifying possibilities; apparently the younger brother slept with the older brother’s wife, and things got worse from there. Such a scene is rare in renku, and presents quite a challenge to Basho. How can he follow such passion and
murderous intention? How can his stanza “suit the previous one” with the same “heart’s connection”?
Basho follows by going inside the late night sound and physical activity of the older brother prying open the door his brother has barricaded. He uses ordinary physical words – “sound” and “pine wood door” and “pry open” - without elaborate construction, to make us hear the screeching sound, and to feel the older brother’s exertion driven by passion and testosterone.
The power accumulates to the final word, koji-hanasu, “pries open” a lively active verb – much more powerful than the passive form “is pried open” would be. The subject of the verb is not stated in Japanese, however in English the verb is more powerful following the pronoun “he.” One might translate “he pries open the door of pine wood door” so the stanza ends in “pine wood door,” however there is more power with the verb at the end, the way it is in Japanese.
Both the emotional violence of the previous stanza and the vivid sensory power in Basho’s stanza amaze me. How about you?
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.
