Bashō's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Bashō

Glossary

G L O S S A R Y danrin. A popular school of haikai poetry established by Nishiyama Sōin (1605–1682). It gave poets greater freedom in subject matter, imagery, tone, and poetic composition than the earlier Teimon school. Bashō was a follower of this school before he set up his own, known as “Shōmon.” fūga. “The poetic spirit.” A combination of “wind” and “elegance ,” this term refers to the aesthetic vitality and sensitivity found in haikai poetry as well as associated arts such as waka, landscape painting, and the tea ceremony. fūryū. “Aesthetic elegance.” It is an extraordinarily complex term, including associations of high culture, art in general, poetry, and music, as well as ascetic wayfaring and Daoist eccentricity. Bashō sees the roots of these in rural culture. haibun. “Haikai prose-poems.” Normally a brief prose text that exhibits haikai aesthetics and includes hokku. Bashō was the first great haibun writer. haiga. “Haikai painting.” A painting made in the haikai spirit, often accompanying a haikai poem. haikai. “Comic, unorthodox.” An abbreviation of haikai no renga, but also used as a general term for other genres and art forms that show haikai no renga aesthetics and what Bashō called the “poetic spirit” (fūga). In this general sense, it might be translated as haikai poetry or haikai art. For Bashō, it involved a combination of comic playfulness and spiritual depth, ascetic practice and involvement in the “floating world” of human society. 279 haikai no renga. “Comic renga,” although “unorthodox” or “plebian” may be more accurate than “comic.” A verse form, similar to traditional renga, that developed in the late medieval and Tokugawa periods. Compared to traditional renga, its aesthetics were more inclusive in subject matter and imagery, and more earthy and playful in tone. Parodies of the classical literature were common. Bashō was a master of haikai no renga. haiku. An independent verse form with a 5–7–5 syllabic rhythm. A modern term, its was popularized by the great but shortlived poet Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) who wanted to establish the haiku as a verse form that stands by itself, separate from the linked verses of a renga. Like its progenitor hokku, it is supposed to contain a season word (kigo). When the West first learned about Bashō and other premodern poets, the term haiku was anachronistically applied to their hokku. Properly speaking, haiku refers only to poems written since Shiki. hokku. “Opening stanza.” First stanza of a renga, thus with 5–7–5 rhythm. This stanza was considered the most important and was usually offered by the master poet at a linked verse gathering. A season word was required. Eventually poets wrote hokku as semi-independent verse: as potential starting verses for a renga sequence, to accompany prose in travel journals and haibun, or to be admired on their own. karumi. “Lightness.” An aesthetic characterized by greater attention to the mundane aspects of life, everyday diction, and generally avoiding the heavy, serious tone of some classical Japanese and Chinese poetry. Bashō promoted this aesthetic in his last years. kasen. A thirty-six stanza haikai no renga, the most common form in Bashō’s time. kigo. “Season word.” A word that in the literary tradition suggests a particular season (e.g. autumn) and possibly a part of a season (e.g., early spring), even if the object (e.g., moon or bush warbler) may be seen in other seasons. Season words may be an image derived from nature or human 2 8 0 B a s h ō’ s H a i k u G l o s s a ry 2 8 1 activity. Every hokku and haiku should contain a season word. Traditionally collections of Japanese hokku and haiku verse were organized by seasonal order. There are now numerous season words dictionaries (saijiki or kigo jiten). renga. “Classical linked verse.” Renga is a linked-verse or sequenced poem with multiple, alternating stanzas. The first stanza consists of a 5–7–5 syllabic rhythm. This is then coupled with another stanza with a 7–7 syllabic rhythm making a poetic unit of 5–7–5 and 7–7. Then comes the third stanza with a 5–7–5 rhythm. This is linked with the second stanza to make a poetic unit of 7–7 and 5–7–5, with the first stanza “forgotten.” The linked-verse continues this way, usually up to...