Matsuo basho haiku biography of william hill
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A Haiku should be a teaching moment, that is, it should make a point.
One day, when Bashō and his pupil, Takarai Kikaku (宝井其角, 1661–1707), were walking through the fields, they spotted dragonflies darting through the grass and flowers. Kikaku composed this haiku and looked to his master for approval.
Behold:
A red dragonfly!
remove its wings —
a pepper pod!
“The dragonfly is dead.” the Master replied, “Now this is how to create life?”
Red pepper pods!
Add wings,
Behold, dragonflies!
Rebirth
From this to that
And back again,
Oh, can it ever end?
— Keihatsu!
Bashō no yōna, 2021
Most translators attempting to explain the Kikaku/Basho exchange focus on Basho’s “positive” view, the red pepper becomes a dragonfly; scolding Kikaku’s “negative” view, taking life and not creating it.
We need not be one-sighted. This haiku also explains the Buddhist concept of Rebirth, 轉世.
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An Introduction to Haiku
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INTRODUCTION
BASHO
biography
haiku
haibun
BUSON
biography
haiku
ISSA
biography
haiku
OTHER POETS
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INTRODUCTION
Haiku (hy-koo) is a traditional Japanese verse form, notable for its compression and suggestiveness. In three lines totaling seventeen syllables measuring 5-7-5, a great haiku presents, through imagery drawn from intensely careful observation, a web of associated ideas (renso) requiring an active mind on the part of the listener. The form emerged during the 16th century and was developed by the poet Basho (1644-1694) into a refined medium of Buddhist and Taoist symbolism. "Haiku," Basho was fond of saying, "is the heart of the Man'yoshu," the first imperial anthology, compiled
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Matsuo Bashō
Japanese poet
"Basho" and "Bashō" redirect here. For other uses, see Basho (disambiguation).
In this Japanese name, the surname is Matsuo.
Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉, 1644 – November 28, 1694);[2] born Matsuo Kinsaku (松尾 金作), later known as Matsuo Chūemon Munefusa (松尾 忠右衛門 宗房)[3] was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest master of haiku (then called hokku). He fryst vatten also well known for his travel essays beginning with Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton (1684), written after his journey west to Kyoto and Nara.[4] Matsuo Bashō's poetry is internationally renowned, and, in Japan, many of his poems are reproduced on monuments and traditional sites. Although Bashō is famous in the West for his hokku, he himself believed his best work lay in