Basho Revisited, a bush warbler

Basho knew his classics and used that knowledge frequently in his haiku. The following haiku is, as Jane Reichhold says, a pseudo-science haiku.

Let us look at the haiku on the Bush warbler.

uguisu no   kasa otoshi taru   tsubaki kana


a bush warbler
has dropped his hat
a camellia

Taiwan Bush Warbler

In old (classic) poems (e.g. waka) there was a phrase about the bush warbler (looking similar to our cuckoo) stitching a hat from plum blossoms. Basho changed the hat to a camellia and had the bird dropping it - which was much more natural than stitching. If birds wore hats the camellia would be the right size and shape.

Maybe you can visualize the picture of the bush warbler wearing a camellia for a hat. It looks like a cartoon I think, but why not.

Humans wear hats so why shouldn't birds and animals don't wear them.

Maybe you lost your hat in a storm or something, so also the bush warbler could lose his hat in the storm or dropping it.

a gust of wind
a hat tolls around and around -
camellia flower

Pink Camellia

A haiku with a smile? I think so ... maybe a senryu?

Sincerely,

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, star-lovers

Several sources are saying that Basho was a homosexual. In his lifetime homosexuality was commonly in the artistic and literature world and, even now, homosexuality is accepted as a normal way of living in Japan.
In Basho's (almost) thousand haiku there are several haiku which are written with a touch of homosexuality. In this part of Basho Revisited I will give a few examples of haiku by Basho with a touch of homosexuality in it.

sazo na hoshi   hiji kimono ni wa   shika no kawa


surely star-lovers
using as a rug
a deer skin

This one, written in Summer 1681, shows us how Basho and his lover are laying down on a deer skin watching to the stars at the Tanabata festival. It's a haiku about love and situated at the time that, the so known 'star-lovers' Altair and Vega are meeting eachother to make love.

Another one:

yoru hisokani   mushi wa gekka no   kuri wo ugatsu


a night secret
a worm under the moon
bores in a chestnut

In this haiku, Autumn 1681, it's very clear what the deeper, hidden, secret meaning is. The white meat of a chestnut indicates, a young virgin boy. The worm ... is Basho himself making love with the young virgin boy. A night secret ... I think that's as clear as the whole haiku. Basho was in love with a young virgin boy or had a boy prostitute under his roof.

A last one:

yamaji ki te   nani yara yukashi   sumire gusa


coming down a mountain road
I've found something lovely
a wild violet

Basho talks here about a young guy which he has met after one of his travels. He compares this young guy with a wild violet.
Ofcourse these are just a few of Basho's haiku in which Basho's love for man and especially young guys is clearly used as a theme.

I will not write a new haiku myself in this part of Basho Revisited. So I will give another haiku by Basho in which his homosexuality is clear, but hidden in wonderful words.

wakaba shite   om me no shizuku   nuguwa baya


young leaves
I would like to wipe away
tears in your eyes

At second thought I will try to compose a new haiku by myself in the same tone as Basho’s.

such a sad feeling
this day I will be alone
white Chrysanthemum


Until the next part,

Basho Revisited, bush clover in rain

Matsuo Basho

In this series Basho's love for man, especially young guys, has been talked about. In some of hisd haiku that love is clearly the theme, but in other ones it isn't so clear. In the following haiku, which he has written in autumn 1689, his preference for man could be the theme, but in the third sentence ... you can read the real theme.

mire te yuku ya   hito mo okashi   ame no hagi

to get wet
by passing a man is interesting
bush clover in rain

It was the 'hokku' of a 50-link renga done by 11 poets at the home of Kansei, a poet in Kamotsu. The euphemism 'to get wet' was often used in tanka (another Japanese verse with five sentences 5-7-5-7-7) where the reader could decide how this happened - either from rain or dew on flowers or tears or sexual activity. This verse uses the 'maekuzuki' technique in that the first two lines make the reader think one thing, but the addition of the third line explains a natural occurrence.
This 'maekuzuki' technique makes this haiku a wonderfully crafted and composed verse in which the poet paints a picture that confused the reader. I love this technique and I love this haiku very much. I will try to write a new haiku with the 'maezukuzi' technique. Again a tough one.

Ah! such a beauty
the white face of a geisha
magnolia in bloom


I wrote this haiku in the middle of the night. I couldn't sleep, but I was inspired and tried to write the above haiku in 'maekuzuki' technique. I wonder what will bring the next day or night?
Haiku isn't just a poem, it's a life style. As Basho did in his lifetime I do in my lifetime writing haiku, breathing haiku, living haiku. Haiku is A life style.

Sincerely,

Basho Revisited, Red Pepper

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

Maybe you know the parable of the mustard seed told by the Christ. A mustard seed is a very tiny seed, but it grows to a very large tree. In the parable Christ means that the smallest seed of belief can grow to the greatness of believing.
There are more tiny seeds that grow to be a great plant or tree. In the following haiku the tiny seed of the Red Pepper is the theme.

Red Chili Pepper

kono tane to   omoi konasa ji   togarashi


such a tiny seed
yet not to be underrated
red pepper

It's a wonderfully crafted haiku. Such a tiny seed as that of the red pepper described and honored in the shortest verse of the world. This is what haiku means. A tiny verse, the greatest of poetry. I love this very much. A few words with a great meaning.

a mustard seed
to grow a shaded place
in the backyard

Awesome! Such a tiny seed that creates a shaded place in the backyard. Certainly a haiku in the Spirit of Basho.

Sincerely,

Also published for:

Basho Revisited, wrapped in a straw mat

In the old Japanese culture, and maybe even now, the year had five seasons. Next to spring, summer, autumn and winter they had the New Year season (this was the last week of the old year and the first week of the new year). This of course was when they used the lunar calendar, which is more bound to nature.
In the Western world we used the lunar calendar a long time ago. When we look at the lunar calendar one year has thirteen months instead of twelve as we now use. For example autumn in the lunar calendar starts in august instead of september. So when we talk about the lunar calendar New Year starts on february the first.
According to the lunar calendar 2012, New Year starts on january 9th. According to this, I can place the next haiku by Basho at the beginning of february, halfway our winter, because as I wrote earlier in this episode we have to go to a month later. So this haiku could be written in february.

komo wo ki te   tare bito imasu   hana no haru


wrapped in a straw mat
who can this great one be?
flowers of spring

Credits: Japanese Straw Raincoat

The preface of this verse was: 'Welcoming the New Year near Kyoto'. In winter plants and trees are wrapped in mats of woven straw to protect them from freezing. People also wore straw raincoats so it seemed that a person was wrapped in the mat. This is an example of the riddle technique, because it is the tree that is wrapped but it is done for the protection of the flowers which have no physical shape at this time.

In out time we also try to protect plants and trees from freezing by 'making the garden ready for winter'.

winter garden
colorless and ugly -
spring flowers blossom

Not a very fine haiku I think, but it's the same meaning as the one by Basho.

Sincerely,

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,

Also published for: one single impression

And as an contribution for Poets United Thursday Think Tank