Basho, one of the greatest of Japanese poets and the master of haiku, was also a Buddhist monk and a life-long traveller. His poems combine 'karumi', or lightness of touch, with the Zen ideal of oneness with creation. Each poem evokes the natural world - the cherry blossom, the leaping frog, the summer moon or the winter snow - suggesting the smallness of human life in comparison to the vastness and drama of nature. Basho himself enjoyed solitude and a life free from possessions, and his haiku are the work of an observant eye and a meditative mind, uncluttered by materialism and alive to the beauty of the world around him.
A masterful translation of one of the most-loved classics of Japanese literature—part travelogue, part haiku collection, part account of spiritual awakening Bashō (1644–1694)—a great luminary of Asian literature who elevated the haiku to an art form of utter simplicity and intense spiritual beauty—is renowned in the West as the author of Narrow Road to the Interior, a travel diary of linked prose and haiku recounting his journey through the far northern provinces of Japan. This edition, part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series, features a masterful translation of this celebrated work. It also includes an insightful introduction by translator Sam Hamill detailing Bashō’s life and the art of haiku, three other important works by Bashō—Travelogue of Weather-Beaten Bones, The Knapsack Notebook, and Sarashina Travelogue—and two hundred and fifty of his finest haiku, making this the most complete single-volume collection of Bashō’s writings. The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.
It was with awe That I beheld Fresh leaves, green leaves, Bright in the sun' When the Japanese haiku master Basho composed The Narrow Road to the Deep North, he was an ardent student of Zen Buddhism, setting off on a series of travels designed to strip away the trappings of the material world and bring spiritual enlightenment. He writes of the seasons changing, the smell of the rain, the brightness of the moon and the beauty of the waterfall, through which he sensed the mysteries of the universe. These writings not only chronicle Basho's travels, but they also capture his vision of eternity in the transient world around him. Translated with an Introduction by Nobuyuki Yuasa
Nothing more lonely -' A selection of Basho's most magical haiku Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions Basho (1644-1694). Basho's On Love and Barley and The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches are available in Penguin Classics.
Vivid new translations of Basho's popular haiku, in a selected format ideal for newcomers as well as fans long familiar with the Japanese master. Basho, the famously bohemian traveler through seventeenth-century Japan, is a poet attuned to the natural world as well as humble human doings; "Piles of quilts/ snow on distant mountains/ I watch both," he writes. His work captures both the profound loneliness of one observing mind and the broad-ranging joy he finds in our connections to the larger community. David Young, acclaimed translator and Knopf poet, writes in his introduction to this selection, "This poet's consciousness affiliates itself with crickets, islands, monkeys, snowfalls, moonscapes, flowers, trees, and ceremonies...Waking and sleeping, alone and in company, he moves through the world, delighting in its details." Young's translations are bright, alert, musically perfect, and rich in tenderness toward their maker.
The travel writings of Matsuo Bashō are of enormous literary importance, and so it is a joy to see them collected in this compact volume, in translations of exemplary elegance, faithfulness, and accessibility. The annotations are especially valuable: they show a solid grasp of the author’s life, work, and times, and provide rich and detailed background information about allusions to Chinese and Japanese classics. Along with the high quality of the translations themselves, this thorough commentary makes the book a significant scholarly resource and will help readers appreciate the density and delicacy of Bashō’s writing. A very welcome addition to the English-language literature on one of the central poets of the Japanese tradition." —David B. Lurie, Columbia University
This volume features dozens of Basho's poems as well as works by his predecessors and ten of his disciples — Kikaku, Ransetsu, Joso, and Kyoroku among them.
The most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan, Matsuo Basho was of samurai descent and a Zen Buddhist, who became a master of haiku. He helped create a new style of poetry, capturing the meaning of the world into simple poetry. His work is celebrated for contrasting two separate experiences, reflecting the environment and emotions of a single moment, taken directly from nature. Haiku is a short form of poetry, composed of three phrases and 17 syllables. It has been employed by Basho and his fellow haikuists throughout the last five hundred years to convey an extraordinary depth of expression and ornate beauty. The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature’s finest poets, with superior formatting. This volume presents a wide selection of haiku by the leading poets of the last five centuries, with new translations, illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Basho’s life and works * Comprehensive introduction to the haiku form * Concise introduction to the life and poetry of Basho and other prominent haikuists * Original translations by Michael Haldane * Excellent formatting of the poems * Includes a wide selection of haikuists * Features two analytical works on the development of the haiku form Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to see our wide range of poet titles CONTENTS: Introduction Introduction to Haiku by Michael Haldane The Haiku Prominent Haikuists Other Haikuists Analysis Poetry of the Seventeenth Century by William George Aston Japanese Poetry by Basil Hall Chamberlain Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of poetry titles or buy the entire Delphi Poets Series as a Super Set
A stimulating exploration of the haiku masterpiece. Matsuo Basho (1644-94) is considered Japan's greatest haiku poet. Narrow Road to the Interior (Oku no Hosomichi) is his masterpiece. Ostensibly a chronological account of the poet's five-month journey in 1689 into the deep country north and west of the old capital, Edo, the work is in fact artful and carefully sculpted, rich in literary and Zen allusion and filled with great insights and vital rhythms. In Basho's Narrow Road: Spring and Autumn Passages, poet and translator Hiroaki Sato presents the complete work in English and examines the threads of history, geography, philosophy, and literature that are woven into Basho's exposition. He details in particular the extent to which Basho relied on the community of writers with whom he traveled and joined in linked verse (renga) poetry sessions, an example of which, A Farewell Gift to Sora, is included in this volume. In explaining how and why Basho made the literary choices he did, Sato shows how the poet was able to transform his passing observations into words that resonate across time and culture.
Quintessential classical Japanese haiku--selected and translated by one of America's premier poet-translators--now available in a pocket edition. In this collection of haiku, translator Sam Hamill has compiled the best from the tradition, spanning the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries, with particular focus on the three great masters: Bashō, Buson, and Issa. Based on images from nature, the poems address the themes of joy, temporality, beauty, wonder, loneliness, and loss. Haiku may be the most popular and widely recognizable poetic form in the world. In just three lines a great haiku presents a crystalline moment of image, emotion, and awareness. Elements of compassion, silence, and a sense of temporality often combine to reveal a quality of mystery. Just as often, haiku may bring a startling insight into the ordinary, or a flash of humor. Collected here are over two hundred of the best haiku of Japanese literature--written by the great masters of the genre. The featured poets are Bashō, Buson, Issa, Moritake, Sōin, Sanpū, Kikaku, Ransetsu, Kyorai, Raizan, Kakei, Onitsura, Taigi, Chiyo, Sogetsuni, Sogi, Fuhaku, Teiga, Kikusha-ni, Tayo-jo, Sōchō, Shōha, and Shiki. This is a pocket-size reissue of The Sound of Water (Shambhala, 1995).
Drawing on the author's experiences growing up in wartime Japan and his forty years covering the United States, Democracy with a Gun traces America's current position as the world's sole superpower. Discussions of influential American leaders, the Second Amendment, the Civil War, the dropping of the atomic bomb, the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, and aggressive foreign policies suggest a nation willing to act unilaterally to secure and impose its lofty goals of peace and freedom. This timely and important work offers a perspective from abroad rarely provided by the usual media pundits. Democracy with a Gun was first published in Japanese in 2004 and won the 52nd Annual Award of the Japan Essayist Club.
Motherhood is defined in the dictionary as "the experience of having and raising a child". But we know that there is much more to motherhood than the simplicity of this definition. The stories in this book were inspired by purity and pain, by joy and apprehension, by the countless nuances of being a mother. Discover the seven stories selected by the critic August Nemo that explore the beauty and uniqueness of motherhood. And for more books with interesting themes, check out the other books in this series! *** This book contains: - Motherhood by Sherwood Anderson. - The Burglar's Christmas by Willa Carther. - The Mother's Promise by T.S. Arthur. - Somebody's Mother by William Dean Howells. - A Mother by James Joyce. - Mother and Son by Guy de Maupassant. - The Aged Mother by Matsuo Basho.
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