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.
日本語も Romanization given, so students of Japanese can learn from Basho
Legend:
Words of Basho in bold
Words of other poets not bold
Basho haiku are not just concerned with flowers, insects, earth, and sky: no, Basho is the poet of humanity,
and his sketches of women and girls are masterpieces of this art form.
Many specify “woman” or “wife” or “daughter,” in the poem or its headnote; some have background information indicating a woman; some portray feminine qualities such as nurturing: some are from a woman’s point of view; others have associations with women, and we could debate whether these associations do or do not indicate a woman. Even if a few are not really “about women,” the others are a magnificent expression of the “primordial power of the feminine emanating from Basho’s poetry.”
Meanwhile his renku on women are four times as many as these 42 haiku. women. No other male in world literature produced so much praise for women as did Basho. Since most scholars will refuse to agree with such a statement, as proof of authenticity, I provide the original Japanese and romanized Japanese. Commentaries for all verses containing more evidence of femininity can be found on my site: simply search for in the box at the upper right corner of the main page. Here, without commentaries, follow the words of Basho to realize his "clear respect, affection, and even reverence for women."
We begin with portraits of actual women at work, portraits of physical bodies doing physical activities and producing physical sensations.
Wrapping rice cake, with one hand she tucks hair behind ear
Doorway curtain, behind it, deep within northside plum
暖簾の / 奥ものふかし / 北の梅 Nouren no / oku mono fukashi / kita no ume
To a woman named Butterfly who used to be a prostitute:
Orchid fragrance upon wings of Butterfly sniff the fragrance
蘭の香や / 蝶の翼に / 薫物す Ran no ka ya / chou no tsubasa ni / takimono su
Going in snow to buy rice, the bag is her hood
米買ひに / 雪の袋 や / 投頭巾 Kome kai ni / yuki no fukuro ya / nagezukin
On the Journey to the Deep North, in his journal A Narrow Path in the Heartlands.
Transplanting rice seedlings to the rice paddy mud was the work of teenage and unmarried women, their fertility believed to transfer to the fields
One rice field
planted, now to leave this willow
田一枚/ 植えて立ち去る / 柳かな Ta ichimai / uete tachi saru / yanagi kana
Refinement’s origin – in the heartlands rice-planting songs
風流の / 初めや奥の / 田植歌 Fuuryuu no / hajime ya oku no / taue uta
Hands remove rice-seedlings, long ago rubbing on dye
早苗取る / 手元や昔 / しのぶ摺 Sanae toru / temoto ya mukashi / shinobu zuri
Basho wrote the following haiku on his journey to the Deep North, but did not include it in his journal; he did not even confirm that he wrote it. Scholars consider the verse "authorship doubtful" because they cannot imagine Basho writing so erotic a haiku, but I can. It has the physical body activity typical of Basho poetry on women. Safflowers are crushed to produce the orange-red dye used to color a woman's under kimono.
In the future whose skin shall they touch? these safflowers
行くすえは / 誰が肌ふれん / 紅の花 Yuku sue wa / taga hada furen / beni no hana
Gloomy Cove in the rain Lady Seishi’s eyebrow blossoms
象潟や /雨に西施が / 合歓の花 Kisagata ya / ame ni Seishi ga / nebu no hana
Hearing through the wall of his inn the voices of two indentured prostitutes from a brothel in Niigata on a spiritual pilgrimage to the Ise Shrine.
Under one roof even play-women sleep bush clover and moon
一家に / 遊女も寝たり / 萩と月 Hitotsu ya ni / yuujo mo netari / hagi to tsuki
At a temple for the Goddess of Mercy, a place of pilgrimage for women:
Night in spring -- one hidden in mystery temple corner
春の夜や / 籠り人ゆかし / 堂の隅 Haru no yo ya / komori hito yukashi / dou no sumi
Moon be sad - of the wife of Akechi let us speak
月さびよ / 明智が妻の / 話せん Tsuki sabi yo / Akechi ga tsuma no / hanashisen
A lone nun’s thatched hut so austere white azaleas
With the nun Chigetsu in Zeze where the famous poet-nun Shoushou lived centuries ago, Basho connects the present with the past.
Now I speak to the nun Shoushou, village snow
少将の/ 尼の 咄や / 志賀の雪 Shoushou no / ama no hanashi ya / Shiga no yuki
In the following, Basho speaks of "seven Komachis" but I have changed this female literary reference to the "seven ages" from Shakespeare; I do this so you will get something from the verse.
Harvest moon facing the lake, seven Ages of Woman
名月や / 海にむかえば / 七小町 Meigetsu ya / umi ni mukaeba / nana Komachi
Lightning flashes -- from the face of Komachi tall plume grass
稲妻や/顔のところが / 薄の穂
Inazuma ya / kao no tokoro ga / susuki no ho
The next six haiku are about the death of a woman. At the memorial for a follower’s mother
Offering water for where thou goest dried rice powder
水向けて / 跡訪ひたまへ / 道明寺
Mizu mukete / ato toi-tamae / dōmyōji
At a memorial for his follower Kikaku’s mother:
White flowers without mother at home seem so chilly
卯の花も / 母なき宿ぞ / 冷じき Unohana mo / haha naki yado zo / susamajiki
On the death of Kyorai’s sister Chine:
Now the house robe of the one who is gone airing in the heat
無き人の / 小袖 も 今や / 土用干し Naki hito no / kosode mo ima ya / doyouboshi
The grief of Rika for his wife:
How he huddles under the futon, cold horrible night
被き伏す / 蒲団や寒き / 夜やすごき Kazuki-fusu /futon ya samuki / yo ya sugoki
Nodes of sorrow— to become bamboo shoots at her end
憂き節や /竹の子となる /人の果 Uki fushi y a / take no ko to naru / hito no hate
On Mount Abandon-Old-Women where this was done so there would be more food for children.
An apparition -- old woman alone weeping friends with the moon
俤や / 姨ひとり泣く / 月の友 Omokage ya / oba hitori naku ya / tsuki no tomo
The next six poems were each written in Basho final spring, summer, and autumn
Nirvana ceremony – between wrinkled hands prayer beads click
涅槃会や / 皺手合する / 数珠の音 Nehan-e ya / shiwa te awasuru / juuzu no oto
Hidden by trees those picking tea listen ho toto GI su
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 presentation, to receive all royalties from sales, to spread Basho’s wisdom worldwide and preserve for future generations.
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.
