Are you a haiku poet or enjoy reading haiku poetry?
Then this hardcover masterpiece is for you. Basho The Complete Haiku is a collection of all of Basho’s haiku poetry in English and so much more. 431 pages stuffed full of Basho’s poems and information on the poet as well information on each poem. Many of the notes on each poem are a paragraph in length. The information is extremely helpful with the understanding of Basho’s poems. The inside covers states that Jane Reichhold who is an American haiku poet and translator, dedicated over ten years on the book.
The introduction covers Basho’s life, his method of writing poetry, and legacy. As explained in the introduction, his poetry experimented with common words and objects, and displays the essence of life. Basho studied Zen and lived a simple life. The book is divided into seven chapters plus notes, appendix # 1 haiku techniques, Appendix #2 selected chronology of the life of Basho, glossary of terms, index of first lines, and acknowledgements. The poems are divided into seven chapters (by date) such as early poems, a retreat to nature, at the peak and still travelling, etc. At the beginning of each chapter, before the poems, contains information on Basho for the time period. The timeline is 1662-1694. The book contains all 1012 of Basho’s poems.
Below are three example poems by Basho:
#87
winter shower
a falling of pepples
into Small Stone River
#276
A Desolate Garden
all the flowers withered
such sadness in the dropping
of a weed’s seeds
#934
In Nagoya of Owari
life’s journey
plowing the patch of rice field
back and forth
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