In this Book
- Bashō's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Bashō
- Book
- 2004
- Published by: State University of New York Press
summary
Bashoµ’s Haiku offers the most comprehensive translation yet of the poetry of Japanese writer Matsuo Bashoµ (1644–1694), who is credited with perfecting and popularizing the haiku form of poetry. One of the most widely read Japanese writers, both within his own country and worldwide, Bashoµ is especially beloved by those who appreciate nature and those who practice Zen Buddhism. Born into the samurai class, Bashoµ rejected that world after the death of his master and became a wandering poet and teacher. During his travels across Japan, he became a lay Zen monk and studied history and classical poetry. His poems contained a mystical quality and expressed universal themes through simple images from the natural world.
David Landis Barnhill’s brilliant book strives for literal translations of Bashoµ’s work, arranged chronologically in order to show Bashoµ’s development as a writer. Avoiding wordy and explanatory translations, Barnhill captures the brevity and vitality of the original Japanese, letting the images suggest the depth of meaning involved. Barnhill also presents an overview of haiku poetry and analyzes the significance of nature in this literary form, while suggesting the importance of Bashoµ to contemporary American literature and environmental thought.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Translation of the Hokku
- pp. 19-154
- Major Nature Images in Basho’s Hokku
- pp. 269-278
- Bibliography
- pp. 283-285
- Index to Basho’s Hokku in Translation
- pp. 287-310
- Index to Basho’s Hokku in Japanese
- pp. 311-328
- Index of Names
- pp. 329-331
Additional Information
ISBN
9780791484654
DOI
MARC Record
OCLC
62386517
Pages
346
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No