Basho Revisited, a grass pillow

This episode is also published for: The Gooseberry Garden Poetry Picnic

Basho wrote several haiku for his students and followers. He also wrote the next haiku for one of his followers named Rotsu (1649-1738). In the preface he wrote:
"On the departure of Rotsu for Michinoku (the Northern part of Honshu)".


kusa makara   makoto no hanami   shite mo koyo


a grass pillow
is the best to use when coming
to view cherry blossoms

When the cherry blossoms are in full bloom whole Japan is going to view the cherry blossoms. A grass pillow was the best seat for sitting under the cherry trees.
According to Jane Reichhold Rotsu was leaving to follow Basho's trip of the previous year to the Far North. Rotsu was rather notorious for his bad behavior. While in Zeze, visiting in a home, he broke a valuable tea container. Instead of owning up to the accident, he blamed another one of Basho's students. Basho got very angry with him over the incident. He only forgave Rotsu shortly before his death. But he was so concerned about the situation that he had left a note in his will of his forgiving Rotsu for this. Rotsu did attend the funeral service of Basho at Gichuyi Temple in Zeze and wrote a detailed report of the end Basho's life and death.
I couldn't see the 'clou' at first of this haiku, but I had as I had an 'aha-erlebnis' when I read the haiku again. I saw the whole picture. In my country we have a proverb 'who burns his buttocks has to sit on his blisters'.
This proverb means that 'if you e.g. break something you have to pay for it'. Rotsu wouldn't do that. So Basho wrote the haiku with that proverb in mind. Because if you burn your bud you have to sit on the blisters. A pillow will be good than to sit on and watch the cherry blossoms. I had to laugh when I came to this conclusion.

I don't  laugh now, because I have to write a new haiku in the same Spirit as the one by Basho. It will be tough one.
Well it cost me a few days to write a new haiku, but I think ... I succeeded.

sitting cushion
a friend for today's accident
viewing the full moon

Mm ... not a very well done haiku, but I will use this one in this episode. Maybe ... another one will come to my mind.
It's a Chevrefeuille haiku, but is it also one in Basho's Spirit?


This episode is also published for The Poetry Picnic of The Gooseberry Garden



Gooseberry Garden


Until next time,

Sincerely,

Basho revisited, plowing a field

Basho was also a tanka poet although there are no tanka of him published. He is known by his haiku, but uses also tanka techniques in his haiku.
In the following haiku he uses words that are usually in tanka as we will see in the preface and comment by Jane Reichhold.

hatake utsu   oto ya arashi no   sakura asa

plowing a field
the sound of a violent storm
morning blossoms

Preface: 'On March 11, at the shrine of Shirahige in Araki village'. Usually in tamka the words 'arashi' (a violent storm) and 'sakura' (cherry blossoms) are combined in the fear that the blossoms will be blown down in a storm. So the 'wit' here is to combine these words with another (much more common) meaning.

In an earlier episode I already told how anxious the Japanese were as the wind blows while all the delicate blossoms are in full bloom. The Japanese are intwined with nature and when nature is in danger, the Japanese feel hurt.
The delicate blossoms of the cherry trees and plum trees are famous for haiku, so I think that I will try a new haiku with one of these famous kigo )season word).

a late spring storm
torns apart the delicacy
of cherry blossom

For the Japanese this haiku is painful. As we know they are intwined with nature, but also a late spring storm that torns apart the delicate cherry blossoms is part of nature and ... when the blossoms have left with the wind they can grow those delicious cherries in summer. And that is also nature.

Alright I will give another few new haiku on the delicacy of the blossoms. I was inspired.

do not scatter
the lovely cherry blossoms
oh violent storm

so fragile
the white plum blossoms
in the evening sun

Ah! that fragrance
delicate cherry blossoms
in the spring rain

Basho Revisited, winds of autumn

This episode of Basho revisited is the last episode about haiku from Oku no Hosomichi, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. In this part a haiku which wasn't included in Narrow Road, but was written while he was on his journey to the Deep North.
The haiku following now is a nice one and has also a reverence to his homosexuality. It's commonly known that Basho was a homosexual.
While Basho was staying at the Yamanaka Hot Springs, the 14 year old son of the innkeeper, Izumiya Matabel, attracted Basho's attention. He gave the boy the nom the plume Toyo (to = momo = peach) and (yo = the young beauty of). This name has a connection with Basho's earlier nom the plume "Tosei" (green peach) which forms a literary connection between the two, according to Oseka-san. However, other implications arise. Basho didn't choose to include the verse in his official travel journal but it was published in 1698, by Fukaku, a doctor in Kyoto, who made a book of 522 hokku classified into the season.

momo no ki no   sons ha chirasu na   aki no kaze


a peach tree
its leaves aren't scattered
winds of autumn

Credits: Peach tree

When we look closely to this haiku we can see the young boy to whom Basho was attracted, the peach tree, young, his leaves not scattered by the autumn wind. He is strong, this haiku glorifies the young boy and his looks.
It's surely a wonderful haiku with a strong touch of love in it. Basho admires Toyo for his young beauty and maybe ... was in love with him.
But ... his love for Toyo isn't the important item in this haiku. It's the haiku which is important. It's a well balanced haiku and surely one in which Basho's master skills are very clear. I think this is one of his masterpieces.
It will be a challenge to write a new haiku for this episode of Basho Revisited. Can I do that? Will I succeed? Let's give it a try.

a young cherry tree
this spring will be the first
to bloom for Buddha

This was a tough one. It wasn't easy to write this one. It's for sure in the Spirit of Chevrefeuille, but is it also in  Basho's Spirit? You, my dear visitor, may decide that.

This was the last part of Basho Revisited about Oku no Hosomichi  The Narrow Road to the Far North.

In the following episodes I will look closer to other haiku written by Basho.

See you here again next time ...

Basho Revisited, a good day



Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

 Basho was the leader/master of a renga group at Yakushiji Temple. They came once in a month together to write renga.
The biggest part of Basho's haiku were written during renga sessions.
Renga was a chain-like poem in which several poets were working together to make a long chain of poems. (There are renga known with over 1000 verses). The first verse of the Renga was called 'hokku' and as we can see, this was the verse we now know as haiku (Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), another haiku poet, introduced the name haiku, which now is commonly in use for this kind of verse). Haiku that emerged from a Renga can also be called 'haikai'.

A lot of his haiku were the 'hokku' of a Renga. The following haiku was the 'hokku' of one of the monthly meetings of the renga-group at Yakushiji Temple.

hatsu zakura    orishimo kyo wa    yoki hi nari

first cherry blossoms
it just happens to be
a good day

As we can read, this haiku is of Spring. It was written in 1688, Basho was at that time 43 yrs of age and a well known and established haikumaster with a group of students. With his students he also wrote Renga.
I have been part of several renga sessions and I loved doing renga.
Maybe it's an idea to write a few blogs about Renga. I love renga sessions and it brings us back to the classical time of this Japanese verse.

Back to Basho Revisited. In part one of Basho Revisited I stated to write in every part a new haiku. So ... the next haiku I wrote for this part of Basho Revisited.

what a day!
the Cherry tree in full bloom
in the light of dawn

This haiku is about the Cherry tree in my own backyard. I love that tree and I would never cut it down.
Sincerely,

Basho Revisited, rather than oysters

As we all know oysters are considered an aphrodisiac and are used by young lovers to arouse the sexual drive. In Basho's time oysters were also seen as an aphrodisiac and was used commonly by youngsters who fell in love.
Basho's next haiku he wrote in the Spring of 1687 when he was 43 years of age. For his time he wasn't a young man anymore, not old, but the common age of dying was around 50. He didn't need to use oysters to become aroused so he wrote:


kaki yori wa    nori wo ba oi no    uri mo se de

rather than oysters
it's dried seaweed one should sell
when one is old

Basho has no need for oysters because he is of age, but to stay healthy he ate dried seaweed. On the other side this haiku was written in Spring and that's the season in which nature is again coming to life, so this haiku could be a nice verse to write about Spring. The oysters are Spring item and the dried seaweed could refer to Winter. The truth is in the middle. I prefer the meaning of the aphrodisiac.

young lovers
under the blooming Cherry trees
eating oysters

I may not say that this haiku is a good one, because I can't say that of myself, but ... it's in the same tone and sense as Basho's haiku is.
In this haiku ... I surely have touched the Spirit of Basho.


Sincerely,