Basho Revisited, lost from its nest

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Basho often used the technique of giving himself an animal or bird's name to describe his own situation instead of using a personal pronoun or referring to himself as author of the verse. Feeling old, and perhaps somewhat ill, and always traveling from place to place, it is easy to see how Basho may have been describing himself as well as making a comment about a natural phenomenon.

It wasn't common to mention the haiku poet in his own haiku. It was just not done as the poet mentioned himself in his haiku, but as Basho did in the following haiku, he took the 'form' of a plover crying because he has lost his nest. Basho, also somewhere called 'the traveling poet', had no own house or something like that. He didn't need that because he was always on a journey.

yami no yo ya   su wo madowashi   naku chidori

darkness of night
lost from its nest
a plover cries

This is a not so well known haiku by Basho, but it's one of the better ones I think. One can visualize the painting. It's dark. A plover cries because it can not find its nest. Maybe the plover in this haiku was a young one.
Basho was lost and had no home of his own. So he was very sad and feels lost in the darkness of the night. Also a possible reason for the 'color' of this haiku can be that Basho was ill and lays in his bed without help or friends around him. He wrote this haiku in Spring 1692, two years before he died.

Can I write a haiku in the same sense and tone as Basho's one?

the cry of a bird
resonates through the night
has it lost his nest?

Not bad I think. It's in the same sense and tone as the one by master Basho.

See you next time,

Basho Revisited, departing autumn

In this episode of Basho Revisited I will look for the last time at haiku from Basho's haibun 'The Narrow Road to the Far North'. This verse was the last haiku in his haibun.

hamaguri no   futami ni wakare   yuku aki zo


a clam
torn from its shell
departing autumn

As I wrote above this is the last verse in Basho's 'Oku no Hosomichi' 'The Narrow Road to the Far North'. Because there are several word plays at work here, the Japanese maintain that there is no way for the poem to be rendered into another language. So here goes: hama (beach); hamaguri (a clam) however 'guri' is also (a chestnut) or (a pebble). And that is only the first line! 'Futami' (place name of the port where the famous Wedded Rocks (two large rocks considered to 'married' which are considered to be sacred) are such an attraction) is made up of the words 'futa' (lid, cover, shell) and 'mu' (body, meat, fruit, nut, berry, seed, substance, contents). The word 'wakare' can be either (to part or to split) or (to leave). Added to the last line (departing autumn) 'wakare' can mean either that it is autumn which is leaving or a person who is departing. In Ogaki, Basho was met by many of his disciples, including Sora who rejoined him, for the end of the trip back to Tokyo. This verse, and the second one in 'Oku no Hosomichi' are considered the 'book-ends' of the work with partings of Spring and Autumn. (Source: Jane Reichhold's Old Pond: Basho's (almost) thousand haiku).

wedded rocks

Awesome! Isn't it! This haiku is a masterpiece worthy to enclose his haibun 'Narrow Road' as I read the previous part (the part by Jane Reichhold) again.
I love to write a haiku with the same words, but with the other meaning. That will be the challenge for this episode of Basho Revisited and of course I have to try. No ... I must try.

a pebble-stone
taken from the Wedded Rocks
a farewell gift


autumn has gone
the only thing that remains
a chestnut


a jackstone
broken of the Married Rocks
a farewell gift

wedded rocks

a chestnut
fallen into the grass
departing autumn


on the seashore
the shell of a hermit crab
abandoned

Well ... it wasn't easy, but I think I did well. Are these my masterpieces? Or in Basho's Spirit? I don't know. You, my dear readers, may tell me.

This was the last episode with the haibun 'Oku no Hosomichi' as theme. In the next episodes I will look closer at haiku by Basho.

Sincerely,

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And as an contribution for Poets United Thursday Think Tank

Basho Revisited, before I leave

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When travelers stayed in a temple, they were expected to perform some work like sweeping out their rooms and or sweeping up the garden or make a payment in some kind. Basho was now alone, because Sora had traveled on ahead of him. When Basho went to leave the temple, some monks stopped him by asking for the payment of at least a poem. Sora had stayed the night before in the same temple and had left the following verse for Basho.

yomosugara   aki kaze kiku ya   ura no yama


all night long
hearing autumn winds
in the mountain behind

One wonders if 'the mountain behind' was Basho, and if he 'autumn winds' were Basho's cold feelings. It is easy to see, how on a journey of this length (2400 km) two friends could get very tired of each other.
The following haiku by Basho, he wrote as a payment for his stay at the temple.

niwa hou te   ide baya tera ni   chiru yanagi


to sweep the garden
before I leave
falling willow leaves

A wonderful haiku I think. I love this verse and I have written the next one. I hope that my haiku will be in the same tone and sense as Basho's.

tears in my eyes
I give Honeysuckle blossom
when I leave

In 'My Narrow Road' I have used some of the traditions as they were used in ancient Japan. This verse I wrote for friends as payment for staying at their home.
It's for sure in Chevrefeuille's Spirit and I think ... also in the Spirit of Basho.

Another one also from 'My Narrow Road'.

a bound verse (*)
farewell gift for my host
and blossom petals

(*) a renga was also called a 'bound verse'.

This one I wrote for the host of a bed & breakfast in Nikko.

Sora and Basho

Sincerely,

Basho revisited, sea of summer

While Basho was on his 'Narrow Road' he also visited Matsushima. According to many sources, old and new ones, Matsushima is the most beautiful and spectacular place in Japan. Since olden times, it has been depicted in poetry and pictures by many poets and artists. Even I, a simple and humble haiku poet from The Netherlands, have written about Matsushima without seeing it for real. I only know Matsushima from stories, poems and pictures. And I can say Matsushima cannot be hold in any poem, story of picture. It's a beautiful place and has an expanse of about 12 km of sea, where there are many islands in various shapes, as if designed and carved artistically by God Himself. Each island is covered with pine trees and its beauty is beyond description.
Matsushima must be really Paradise. Basho wrote the following haiku:

shi majima ya   chiji ni kudaki te   natsu no umi


many islands
broken into pieces
sea of summer

This leaves me in awe. What a picture, what a wonderful place to be. Maybe ... just maybe I will be allowed to see it with my own eyes.

Writing a haiku myself about Matsushima ... I think it isn't possible, but I have to try.

Matsushima
indescribable
tears in my eyes


Matsushima
beyond description
tears in my eyes

Matsushima

tears in my eyes
I cannot find the words to describe
Matsushima


covered with pine
the place of my dreams
Matsushima


crafted by God
this wonderful piece of Japan
Matsushima

Well ... I thought I couldn't find the words to describe Matsushima, but I did it ...and still Matsushima leaves me in awe.

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Basho Revisited, early summer rains

samidare wa   taki furi uzumu   mikasa kana


early summer rains
falling so much they covered up
the waterfall

What a wonderful picture. This haiku by Basho, so pure, so ... Basho. I wonder how he does it. The lightness of this verse touches me deep. I can visualize this one. I can see the waterfall, I can hear the summer rains and even can smell the air so fresh, wow! What a sight! Awesome!
The preface of this haiku tells us more. Let us look at the preface.

"We were told that about 8 km to the east of Sukagawa Station there are falls named 'Ishikawa' so we planned to go to see them, but because the heavy rains of the past few days, the river was so swollen we were unable to cross it and therefore canceled the trip." (Source: Jane Reichhold's Old Pond: Basho's (almost) thousand haiku).

Such a sad idea. Basho was eager to go see the waterfall, but couldn't reach it because of the heavy rains.
Every path has his own obstacles in this case the river was to swollen to cross it. My own path to Enlightenment has obstacles too, but when I conquer these obstacles I grow and a step closer to Enlightenment.

what a sight!
morning glories in full bloom
the swollen river

Isn't it a beautiful image? Can you see it?


Until next time,

Sincerely,

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2018 July Re-published on Carpe Diem's Summer Retreat 2018