Matsuo Bashō 松尾 芭蕉

[BFGriffith]

Matsuo Bashō 松尾 芭蕉 ⤑ Matsuo Chūemon Munefusa 松尾 忠右衛門 宗房

• most famous poet of the isolationist Edo／徳川時代 Tokugawa jidai era of Japanese history…
• born 1644 as “Matsuo Kinsaku” ⤑ died November 28, 1694

“Renku” 連句 “linked verses” or “haikai no renga” 俳諧の連歌 collaborative “comic linked verse“

…developed out of the older more orthodox Japanese poetic tradition of “ushin renga” collaborative linked verse. At “renku” gatherings, participating poets took turns providing alternating verses of 17 and 14 moræ. Initially, “haikai no renga” distinguished itself through vulgarity＆coarseness of wit before eventually growing into a more respected artistic tradition and eventually giving birth to the well known “haiku” form of Japanese poetry.

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古人の跡を求めず、
古人の求めたるの所を求めよ。
kojin no ato wo motomezu,
kojin no motometaru no tokoro wo motome yo.
Seek not the paths of the ancients;／Seek that which the ancients sought.
from 柴門の辞 “Words by a Rustic／Brushwood Gate”

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見るところ花にあらずと云ふことなし、
思ふところ月にあらずと云ふことなし。
Miru tokoro hana ni arazu to iu koto nashi,／omou tokoro tsuki ni arazu to iu koto nashi｡
There is nothing you can see that is not a flower;
There is nothing you can think that is not the moon. (Reginald Horace Blyth’s translation)

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夏草や 兵どもが 夢の跡
natsukusa ya／tsuwamonodomo ga／yume no ato
The summer grasses—／Of brave soldiers’ dreams／The aftermath.
— Matsuo Bashō, The Narrow Road to Oku, Tokyo, 1996, page 87 (Donald Keene’s translation)

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旅に病んで夢は枯野をかけ廻る
tabi ni yande／yume wa kareno wo／kake meguru
falling sick on a journey／my dream goes wandering／on a withered field ⟦1694⟧

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[BFGriffith]

• Renku
• 松尾 芭蕉
• Matsuo Bashō  Wikiquote
• https://quotepark.com/authors/basho-matsuo/