From theSaga Diary Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Sagano Genroku year 4, 1691 Basho, 48 years old
Kogō, 古豪 was a beautiful woman, consort to the emperor. She is banished after being caught in a love triangle. Her grave was in a bamboo grove.
painful beings, becoming part of a bamboo stalk in the end
憂き節や竹の子となる人の果て uki fushi ya takenoko to naru hito no hate
Matsuo Basho, Saga Diary, Summer, 1691
Kogo (小督局, 1157-?), in 1172, she became consort to the Emperor Takakura at the end of Heian period (794-1195). A talented zither player, she was called Kogo no tsubone. She was the subject of a Noh play and historical character in the Tale of the Heike.
Notes on Translation
Bamboo nodes, the section between each ring on a bamboo stalk. Bamboo shoots (takenoko) are the shoots that come up out of the ground. They are edible if cooked to remove toxins. This is a reference to life’s struggle and to its cycle. Compare the Biblical phrase, “Dust to dust.”
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, a great place to visit in Kyoto.
Basho’s follower Mukai Kyorai had a cottage in Saga on the western outskirts of Kyoto. Basho stayed here for a couple of weeks in 1691, returning to Edo by the end of the year.
ukifushi, a painful thing, something that grows stronger as time goes by.
uki (worrisome, bothersome) fushi (bamboo node) ya (empahsis) takenoko (bamboo shoot, stalk) to (and) naru (become) hito (man) no (of) hate (end, limit)
Basho-an (Basho’s cottage) at Fukagwa, outside Edo, Summer, 1693
The morning-glories growing along the fence have made a chain that keeps guests out.
By the late summer of 1693, Matsuo Basho was feeling unwell and tired of guests. The morning-glories trailing along the fence must have looked like a chain to keep away guests. On this day, he must have been feeling better as he was willing to unlock the gate.
Morning-glories! Now that it is daytime, let down the chain That locks the gate at the fence.
朝顔や昼は鎖おろす門の垣 Asagao ya hiru wa jo orosu mon mo kaki
Matsuo Basho, Summer, 1693
Locked Out
Not being a native Japanese speaker, I struggle to get the sense of Basho’s meaning. But, as the poets says, to learn from the pine, be like the pine. One can put oneself in the place of the morning-glory, locking the guests out, or the guests, who on arriving at Basho’s cottage to visit, find that the tender blossoms and tendrils have locked them out.
Asagao, morning glories bloom from early summer to the first frost of fall. Besides its beauty, the flower buds serve as a laxative which might have helped Basho with his on-going stomach ailment.
Asagao ya (morning glories, followed by an exclamation) hiru (day, daytime) wa (topic marker for daytime) jo (chain, lock) orosu (take down, lower) mon mo kak (gate at the fence)
From Nozarashi Kikō, Summer of 1684, age 40, In the mountains of Yoshino, east of Osaka
The temple wife.No, her name is not Shirley.
Pounding cloth on the stone, monk, tell me surely, is this your temple wife?
砧 打ちて 我に聞かせよ 坊が妻 Kinuta uchite ware ni kikase yo bou ga tsuma
Matsuo Basho,
Notes on Translation. Kinuta (a stone on which to pound cloth) uchite (pounding) wareni (“ware” me plus “ni,” a particle for indirect object, “to me”) kikase (let me hear, tell me) yo (indicating emphasis or certainty) bou (monk) ga tsuma (wife)
Not PC
Not politically correct, but Basho’s attempt at humor. Like Henny Youngman’s “Take my wife, please.” I have added “surely” which is a homophone with Shirley, a girl’s name often used in American humor.
On the trail of Saiygo, the wandering 12th century Japanese monk. For a while, Saigyo lived as a hermit in the mountains of Yoshino, east of Osaka. Basho visitied Yoshino at least twice. First, during the summer of 1684 when he composed Nozarashi Kikō, and again after completing the ambitious Oku no Hosomichi in the autumn of 1689.
Beating the cloth to soften it, a Tao-like quote from Fujiwara no Masatsune’s 12th century poem in the Kokinshū (古今集, an anthology of early Japanese poetry of the waka style) that encompasses at least three senses, seeing, feeling, hearing:
“Looking at Yoshino, as the autumn wind is blowing and my hometown is getting colder, listening to the women beating on the clothes.”
Fujiwara no Masatsune, 12th century
Frank Watson has a translation of Fujiwara’s poem.
Early in his life, Matsuo Kinsaku (later becoming Basho) studied Chinese poetry and Taoism. Then, he studied Buddhism. Saiygo being his role model. Both ways, Taoism as well as Buddhism, for the Tao is not the only Way, enduring, it is ever changing and Buddhism, is about self-enlightenment. With both, brevity is the hallmark, which is why haiku is such a perfect Art form.
When words fail me … — Dao de Ching!
Bashō no yōna, Summer 2023
Words fail me, they fail all of us sometimes when trying to describe a moment or place. That is why we resort to similes and metaphors. Kind of like saying “a picture paints a thousand words.”
It was the mature* Matsuo Basho who said, “Don’t copy me, that is as dull as two halves of a melon.”
* ‘Ripe,’ one might say. Before becoming Basho, the poet’s pen name was Tosei, meaining ‘unripe peach’.
On holy Mt Haguro, the wind speaks of scented snow.
Genroku 2, June 3, 1689 (July 19 by the solar calendar) Age 45, Basho climbs Mt. Haguro at Dewa Sanzan From Oku no Hosomichi
thank you, for the sweet smell of snow and the voice of the wind
有難や雪を薫らす風の音 arigata ya / yuki o kaorasu / kaze no oto
Matsuo Basho, Summer, 1689
French
merci, pour la neige parfumée et la douce voix du vent
Matsuo Basho, Summer, 1689
Traveling in the Cool Mountains
Well into their journey into Japan’s northern interior (Oku no Hosomichi), Matsuo Basho and Sora are, by now, conditioned travelers . Having come down the rapid Mogami River by boat, they meet Kondo Sakichi (haiku name “Rogan”), and he takes Basho and Sora up the cedar covered mountain to the temple of Haguro-san.
Later at a poetry recitation, Basho thanks his host for the excursion.
Noteson Translation. arigata (thank you) ya (exclamation “!”) yuki (snow) o (a particle indicating a sigh) kaorasu (scented, fragrant in a smoky way) kaze no oto (sound of the wind, voice of the wind)
Dewa Sanzan, 出羽三山, the “three (sacred) mountains of Dewa” in mountainous Yamagata Prefecture.
Bashō no yōna
In the western states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico the snow stays on the lower mountains well into June, and the 14ers are snow capped all year round. In Utah, one goes from Moab where it is a short drive to Arches National Park and Canyonland, then on to Bryce and Capito Reef, then down the Grand Staircase-Escalante to Zion. The Grand Canyon’s North Rim is closed until the middle of June because of snow. It is a long drive through arrid northern Arizona to the South Rim and the spectacular Grand Canyon.
Miles of Nothing Until Something, Spectacular! — Grand Canyon’s South Rim
Bashō no yōna, late Spring, 2023
The melting snow formed the Grand Canyon over millions of years. One can also enjoy several Colorado waterfalls including misty Thunder Falls and its ever-present rainbow, and the hidden gem of Zapata Falls with its blue ice near the Great Sand Dunes.
Winter’s blanket Melting snow and raging rivers — Summer’s hot and cool
Nihonbashi, Edo, Japan 6th year of Enpō, 1680 Basho was 35 years old
Really and truly, a silver moon, Shining above this street, I’d give one thousand pieces of gold, to keep
実にや月 間口千金の 通り町 Geni ya tsuki maguchi senkin no tōrichō
Tosei (Matsuo Basho), 1680
[Note. torichio, 通り町 literally “Main Street” here it refers to the Nihonbashi District in Edo (Tokyo). This street would be like New York City’s Broadway, the Million Dollar Mile in Chicago, Paris, the Champs-Élysées, the Avenida 9 de Julio, in Buenos Aires, anywhere people mingle in the midst of fine theaters, shopping, and restaurants. “Main Street” is a peculiarly American idea, so I’ve kept it vague. One could insert Nihonbashi, but that refers to the area and not the main thoroughfare.]
The Poet as a Young Man
“I was born Matsuo Kinsaku. My father was samurai, but the wars are over. My brother has the farm. I traveled. Then took up poetry. My pen name is Tosei, meaning “unripe peach”. Leaving home in Ueno, going to Kyoto, now living in Edo, visiting Nihonbashi with its theater and cafes, I party, I study, I have a few students I teach — life is really, truly golden.”
One is not born an artist. One becomes one. And one is never quite the same. So, in the spring of 1672, our poet came to Edo, to learn, to read, to write, to teach, to become a poet, and find himself.
“A spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold, flowers are fragrant and the moon waxes and wanes.”
Su Shi, 蘇軾 Chinese poet, 11th c.
Looking back years later, Matsuo Basho was able to say this:
“My body is worn out in never-ending journeys as aimless as the wind and clouds, where I expressed my feelings through flowers and birds. Somehow I’ve made a living at this. So, in the end, unskilled and untalented as I am, I give myself wholly to this one pursuit — poetry.”
Matsuo Basho, 1690
The excellent website, Teresbess identifies this quote as coming from Genjuan no ki (The Hut of the Phantom Dwelling, 1690). Basho, then approaching 50, took a sojourn to Lake Biwa near Kyoto. Basho’s description of the spot again imitates Su Shi:
From lofty peaks there descends a fragrant southern wind, and the cool northern wind is from the distant sea. In beginning of the fourth moon (April-May) when I arrived, the azaleas were in bloom. And on the mountain pine, hung wisteria. Cuckoos flew past and swallows came to feed.
Matsuo Basho, Genjuan no ki (The Hut of the Phantom Dwelling), 1690
Notes on Translation
Geni (really and truly, indeed) ya (expresses exclamation, admiration) tsuki (moon) maguchi (referring to land, frontage) senkin (a thousand pieces of gold) no (indicating identity or possession) Tōrichō (refers to the main street of Nihonbashi in Edo, 通り町 ‘Tōrichō‘ is equivalent to Main Street).
There are multiple translations of Basho’s Phantom Hut available online. In becoming a recluse, Basho was imitating several Chinese poets including Du Fu and Bai Juyi, as well as the Japanese monk Saigyo.
Summer or Autumn? What is your favorite season? Why do deer like autumn? A fawn loses its star-like spots. Its coat switches to the dull brown color allowing it to blend into the winter forest. And the fawn is old enough to be weaned. Mothering is done. The season of love has begun.
Autumn will come, a spouse loves the fading stars on the fawn
秋来ぬと妻恋ふ星や鹿の革 aki kinu to / tsuma kou hoshi ya / shika no kawa
Tanabata, Double Seven
Matsuo is 35 years old, not yet Basho, the weather beaten banana tree, still Tosei, the unripe peach, taking it all in.
In the midst of summer the theaters and cafes in Edo’s lively Nihonbashi District would have emptied and everyone would sit out under the stars and enjoy the festival of Double Seven.
Summer is here. In the Milky Way, the cowherd and the weaver are lighting up the heavens. On the other hand, when autumn comes, on earth, when mothering is done, the deer will make love.
Tanabata is the Japanese celebration of the meeting of the two stars Vega and Altair, which takes place on July 7th, thus the name Tanabata, Double Seven. Zhinü, 織女 is the weaver girl, (the star Vega) and Niulang, 牛郎, the cowherd, (Altair). In Chinese and Japanese mythology they are two lovers who are separated and meet only once a year.
aki kinu to (autumn will come, when autumn comes) / tsuma (wife, spouse) kou (loves) hoshi (stars) ya (emphasis) / shika no kawa (on the fawn)
Enpo 9, Summer 1681 Basho is 38 years old, Likely at Lake Biwa
Keep in mind, at the age of 38, the poet then called Tosei (unripe peach) was wanting to change.
Nature has made you the way you are, but Nature can change how you appear. Consider Zhuangzi’s saying, “A duck’s legs are short, to stretch them would worry him. A crane’s legs are long, to shorten them would make him sad.” (Zhuangzi, 6:8-9).
Summer rain on the cranes, the legs are becoming shorter
五月雨に鶴の足短くなれり samidare ni tsuru no ashi mijikaku nareri
Matsuo Basho, Summer 1681
Summer 1691
Seeking change.
Change was afoot. In the summer of 1681, outside of Edo, by the Sumida River, Basho was getting used to his new home in the then rural Fukagawa District. In relative isolation he began the study of of the ancients including Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi. The cycles of the seasons, the appearance of the egrets and cranes nesting and fishing along the river, and especially the rainy days of early summer were subjects for thought. Zhuangzi says keep your inborn nature, Buddhism teaches change. So Basho says, the quickest way to change the world around you is to change yourself, i.e., move to Fukagawa, live in a cottage, and, walk in the river to shorten your legs.
samidare (literally 5th month, but Basho intends “early summer rain”) ni (on, referring to the crane legs) tsuru no ashi (crane legs) mijikaku (short) nareri (becoming)
matsuo-basho-haiku 