Basho's thoughts on...
Matsuo Basho 1644~1694
The only substantial
collection in English
of Basho's renku, tanka,
letters and spoken word
along with his haiku, travel
journals, and essays.
The only poet in old-time
literature who paid attention with praise
to ordinary women, children, and teenagers
in hundreds of poems
Hundreds upon hundreds of Basho works
(mostly renku)about women, children,
teenagers, friendship, compassion, love.
These are resources we can use to better
understand ourselves and humanity.
Interesting and heartfelt
(not scholarly and boring)
for anyone concerned with
humanity.
“An astonishing range of
social subject matter and
compassionate intuition”
"The primordial power
of the feminine emanating
from Basho's poetry"
Hopeful, life-affirming
messages from one of
the greatest minds ever.
Through his letters,
we travel through his mind
and discover Basho's
gentleness and humanity.
I plead for your help in
finding a person or group
to take over my 3000 pages of Basho material,
to edit and improve the material, to receive 100%
of royalties, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide
and preserve for future generations.
Quotations from Basho Prose
The days and months are
guests passing through eternity.
The years that go by
also are travelers.
The mountains in silence
nurture the spirit;
the water with movement
calms the emotions.
All the more joyful,
all the more caring
Seek not the traces
of the ancients;
seek rather the
places they sought.
basho4humanity
@gmail.com
Plea for Affiliation
Plea For Affiliation
I pray for your help
in finding someone
- individual, university,
or foundation -
to take over my
3000 pages of material,
to cooperate with me
to edit the material,
to receive all royalties
from sales, to spread
Basho’s wisdom worldwide,
and preserve for
future generations.
basho4humanity
@gmail.com
Home >
Topics >
Poetry and Music
Haiku were only a minor part of Basho's poetry. Renku were his major work. His tanka are few but vital. I propose that all forms of Basho poetry are musical compositions, with a four-beat rhythm, and Basho wrote numerous poems about the experience of playing and hearing music.
Basho on How to Write Haiku
From his letters to followers and spoken word recorded by followers, I have culled 17 Basho statements on how to create a haiku, advice from the greatest of haiku poets to you writing haiku today. Thr ...
E-11
My First Renku Journeys
This is the story of the first three renku stanzas – one single stanza and a stanza pair, all by Basho -- which six years go made the connections in my mind to draw me into the renku universe.&n ...
E-12
The Flow of Renku
Renku in Basho4Humanity are mostly stana-pairs isolated from the long sequences in which they were written. These quintets provide more of a flow yet still focus on the links.
When li ...
E-13
Boncho, Basho, Kyorai
Among Basho’s circle in Kyoto two men stand out: his beloved friend Kyorai and Boncho, a doctor married to Uko. In 1690, Basho wrote a letter to her:
Recently Old Boncho and Kyorai ca ...
E-14
Tanka Equivilants
Two renku stanzas both by Basho written in succession, a triplet of 17 sound-units then a couplet of 14, with continuity of theme between the two: the form of a tanka -- although not a tanka. Th ...
E-15
Basho’s Zen Poetry
Here are poems written while Basho was studying with a Zen priest, or about Zen monks, or about the practice of Zen meditation. (For prose and letters, see Article E-5 FRIENDS IN ZEN).& ...
E-16
Poetry in Basho Letters:
Poem: “an arrangement of words in verse, expressing facts, ideas, or emotions in a style more concentrated, imaginative, and powerful than that of ordinary speech.”&nb ...
E-17
Ride the Energy
Basho told Doho:
Make renku ride the Energy.
俳諧は気にのせてすべし. Haikai wa ki ni nosete subeshi.
Ki is the Energy of Oriental medicine and martial arts, the "life force" ...
E-18
Music and Song
15 Basho poems on music and song reveal a consciousness of profound effects on the brain. Let the music in his verses take you to another place. Daniel Levitin in This is your Brain on Music ...
E-19
Shiki’s MisDirection:
“The haiku is literature. Renku is not literature and for this reason
need not be discussed.” Masaoka Shiki (1867 – 1902)
translated by Donald Keene in his bio ...
E-20
Green Dragon's Ears
The words for “green,” aoi or midori, appear so frequently in Basho poetry (with white also frequent). The green of plants, more than just a color to Basho, is a force of nature which ...
E-21
Basho's thoughts on...
Matsuo Basho 1644~1694
The only substantial
collection in English
of Basho's renku, tanka,
letters and spoken word
along with his haiku, travel
journals, and essays.
The only poet in old-time
literature who paid attention with praise
to ordinary women, children, and teenagers
in hundreds of poems
Hundreds upon hundreds of Basho works
(mostly renku)about women, children,
teenagers, friendship, compassion, love.
These are resources we can use to better
understand ourselves and humanity.
Interesting and heartfelt
(not scholarly and boring)
for anyone concerned with
humanity.
“An astonishing range of
social subject matter and
compassionate intuition”
"The primordial power
of the feminine emanating
from Basho's poetry"
Hopeful, life-affirming
messages from one of
the greatest minds ever.
Through his letters,
we travel through his mind
and discover Basho's
gentleness and humanity.
I plead for your help in
finding a person or group
to take over my 3000 pages of Basho material,
to edit and improve the material, to receive 100%
of royalties, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide
and preserve for future generations.
Quotations from Basho Prose
The days and months are
guests passing through eternity.
The years that go by
also are travelers.
The mountains in silence
nurture the spirit;
the water with movement
calms the emotions.
All the more joyful,
all the more caring
Seek not the traces
of the ancients;
seek rather the
places they sought.
basho4humanity
@gmail.com
Plea for Affiliation
Plea For Affiliation
I pray for your help
in finding someone
- individual, university,
or foundation -
to take over my
3000 pages of material,
to cooperate with me
to edit the material,
to receive all royalties
from sales, to spread
Basho’s wisdom worldwide,
and preserve for
future generations.
basho4humanity
@gmail.com
