Bashō and His Interpreters: Selected Hokku with Commentary

This book has a dual purpose. The first is to present in a new English translation 255 representative hokku (or haiku) poems of Matsuo Basho (1644-94), the Japanese poet who is generally considered the most influential figure in the history of the genre. The second is to make available in English a wide spectrum of Japanese critical commentary on the poems over the last three hundred years. The hokku are arranged in chronological order, so the reader can trace the gradual process through which the poet perfected his art. Basho was a tireless experimenter who explored the potential of his poetic form throughout his career, and the results of his explorations are everywhere visible in his work. The translated poems are grouped by year of composition (except for three longer groupings before 1675). Each group is introduced by a biographical section reviewing the events in Basho's life during that year. The author also provides the original Japanese in romanization; a literal, word-for-word translation; and, when necessary, an explanatory note dealing with specific words and names, contemporary customs, and the like. Because of Basho's great fame, a massive amount of critical commentary has been written on his poems. For each poem, the author provides a selection of representative excerpts from commentaries, showing how different generations (or different scholars within the same generation) have approached Basho's poems in different ways. These commentaries point up the fact that a hokku, consisting of only seventeen syllables, invites the active participation of the reader. The hokku poet leaves the poem unfinished, so to speak, and each reader is expected to "complete" it with a personalinterpretation. The Introduction discusses the basic nature of hokku, Basho's contribution to its development, the history of Basho criticism, problems of translation, and other useful information. The book also includes a glossary of literary terms, indexes of the complete poems in English and romanized Japanese, biographical notes on commentators, and a selected bibliography. All in all, the book is both a collection of great poetry in a new translation and a comprehensive, rich guide to a deeper appreciation of that poetry. The book is illustrated with 7 line drawings and examples of Basho's calligraphy and 6 maps.