Copyright T. Schaelen 2004-2014

Three unrhymed lines

17 syllables: 5, 7, 5

Juxtaposes contrasting

images that work together

to create meaning,

emotion, or mood.

Japan’s most popular

verse form

famous Bashō poem:

An old pond—

A frog leaps in,

The sound of water

1st part of the term is from kai,

a type of linked-verse poem

2nd part is from hok ,

the initial stanza of a haikai

Haikai are written by groups of poets

Each short poem has to be able to stand on

its own as well as build on the one before it.

A new stanza completes the poem, and it

also becomes the start of a new one.

Poets often composed in competitions, and

the resulting poems were anthologized.

Opening poems of the haikai Three Poets at Minase,

a 100-verse sequence created in 1488 by Sogi,

Shohaku, and Socho, all of whom Basho admired.

Some snow still remains as haze moves low on the slopes toward evening.

Flowing water, far away— and a plum-scented village. Wind off the river blows through a clump of willows— and spring appears.

A boat being poled along, sounding clear at break of day. Still there, somewhere: the moon off behind the mist traversing the night.

Sogi

Shohaku

Socho

Sogi

Shohaku

The first poem of the series,

the hokku, sets the tone of the poem.

Must contain 3 lines with set syllables.

Must set the scene:

season

time of day

landscape features

Do you see these three elements in the last slide’s hokku? Some snow still remains as haze moves low on the slopes toward evening.

Hokku were collected in anthologies,

severed from their original context.

Eventually poets began to write hokku

without the rest of the longer work,

and these came to be called haiku.

The term “haiku” actually wasn’t used

until the 19th century.

Bashō, in the 17th century, was writing during this transformation.

How does The Narrow Road honor

the roots of the haiku?

The poems are not part of a linked-verse sequence, but they are linked to his travels.

Sora and his poems are included to bring poetic collaboration to the work.

Haikai was popular entertainment

rather than literature; it was valued for

cleverness, puns, and humor.

Bashō infused it with deep thought

and eternal human themes, elevating

it to the level of art.

His poems . . .

“capture the universe in a

grain of sand” (Lawall

605).

employ Buddhist notion of

impermanence

explore wisdom found in

nature

Juxtapose transitory and

eternal

On a journey, ailing—

My dreams roam about

Over a withered moor.

Works Cited and Consulted

Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Ft. Worth: Harcourt,

1999. Print

Kohl, Stephen W. Matso Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North. Univ. of

Oregon. 18 May 2004. Web.

Lawall, Sarah, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. Vol.

D. New York: Norton, 2002. Print.

“Matsuo Basho.” World Literature Online. Bedford St. Martin’s. n.d. Web.

05 Dec. 2013.

Ueda, Makoto. The Master Haiku Poet Matsuo Basho. New York: Twayne,

1970. Print.

Image Credits

Slide 2: Reprinted in http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/

Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln360/SYL360.htm

Slide 4: Reprinted in http://www.haikudesigns.com/

Slide 6: http://bonya.wordpress.com/2008/11/22/haiku-green-blood/

Slide 9: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050909.html

Slide 10: Reprinted in http://www.konishi.co.jp/html/

fujiyama/english/nagaya/img/basho.jpg

Slide 11: Reprinted in http://www.pref.shiga.jp/

profile/jinbutsu/hist-p/basho.gif