Basho Livres

"Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694) is arguably the greatest figure in the history of Japanese literature and the master of the haiku. Bashō: The Complete Haiku of Matsuo Bashō offers in English a full picture of the haiku of Bashō, 980 poems in all. Andrew Fitzsimons's translation is the first to adhere strictly to form: all of the poems are translated following the syllabic count of the originals. This book also translates a number of Bashō's headnotes to poems ignored by previous English-language translators. In Fitzsimons's beautiful rendering, Bashō is much more than a philosopher of the natural world and the leading exponent of a refined Japanese sensibility. He is also a poet of queer love and eroticism; of the city as well as the country, the indoors and the outdoors, travel and staying put; of lonesomeness as well as the desire to be alone. His poetry explores the full range of social experience in Edo Japan, as he moved among friends and followers high and low, the elite and the demi-monde, the less fortunate: poor farmers, abandoned children, disregarded elders. Bashō: The Complete Haiku of Matsuo Bashō reveals how this work speaks to our concerns today as much as it captures a Japan emerging from the Middle Ages. For dedicated scholars and those coming upon Bashō for the first time, Fitzsimons's elegant translation-with an insightful introduction and helpful notes-allows readers to enjoy these works in all their glory"-- Provided by publisher

American readers have been fascinated, since their exposure to Japanese culture late in the nineteenth century, with the brief Japanese poem called the hokku or haiku. The seventeen-syllable form is rooted in a Japanese tradition of close observation of nature, of making poetry from subtle suggestion. Infused by its great practitioners with the spirit of Zen Buddhism, the haiku has served as an example of the power of direct observation to the first generation of American modernist poets like Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and also as an example of spontaneity and Zen alertness to the new poets of the 1950s. This definite collection brings together in fresh translations by an American poet the essential poems of the three greatest Matsuo Basho in the seventeenth century; Yosa Buson in the eighteenth century; and Kobayashi Issa in the early nineteenth century. Robert Haas has written a lively and informed introduction, provided brief examples by each poet of their work in the halibun, or poetic prose form, and included informal notes to the poems. This is a useful and inspiring addition to The Essential Poets series.

Japans genom tiderna mest kände haikupoet Matsuo Basho (1644­1694) företog år 1689 en vandringsfärd genom oländiga delar av de inre regionerna norr och nordväst om Edo. Under färden besökte han natursköna och historiska platser kända från äldre poesi. Hans mångbottnade och lyriska reseskildring, med insprängda haikudikter, ger en fin inblick i japansk naturkänsla, zenbuddhistisk tankevärld, Japans historia och litterära traditioner. Samtidigt är den ett vackert och levande vittnesbörd från en staraptsrik färd i en gången tid och ett fortfarande lika aktuellt uttryck för livet som resa. Swedish translation of classical Japanese poet Bashõs most famous work "Oku no hosomichi".