1666

Ueno, Iga Province

The year of 1666 was a turning point in the life of Matsuo Minefusa (as Basho was then known).

In April, Todo Yoshitada (藤堂 良忠) died. Two or three years Matsuo’s senior, he was the third son of a samurai general, lord of the castle in Ueno, Iga Province, near where Basho was born. Matsuo was his servant or vassal. And it was Yoshitada, who adopted the pen name of Sengin (蝉吟, literally ‘chanting cicada’), who introduced Basho to poetry and haiku.

In the sharp sound of the autumn wind coming through an open door, I suspect young Matsuo heard the voice of his master and mentor.

The autumn wind, coming through the sliding door, a sharp voice.

秋風の鑓戸の口やとがり声
aki kaze no yarido no kuchi ya togari-goe

Matsuo Basho, Autumn 1666

Notes on Translation

What Basho meant by togari-goe is unclear. Was it the sharp voice of his master, summoning him? Was it the piercing cry of one who died too soon. Is it Basho himself mourning the loss of his mentor?

aki kaze (秋風) — autumn wind. Basho would begin at least four haiku with aki kaze, one with aki no kaze. Aki, autumn was a seasonal word signifying change and the nearness of winter, or death.

yarido (鑓戸) — A door made of latticed wood. Others, including Frank Watson, suggest that there is a play on words involved here – yari (鑓) also meaning spear. To me, this is suggestive of the wooden strips on the door looking like spears, or the sound of the wind being similar to the sound made by throwing a spear. Assuming, as I do, that his haiku was written after Yoshitada’s death, I think Basho intended to write it as a salute to Yoshitada on the occasion of his death.

kuchi (口), opening, meaning either an open door, or simply that the wind is blowing through the slats.

togari-goe — a screaming voice, togari (とがり) sharpness, piercing; goe (声). Compare Basho’s well known haiku about a frog, an old pond, and the sound of water. Basho uses mizu no oto (水の音), the sound of water.

Note. when koe becomes goe. An example of rendaku (連濁) – repeating a consonant in compound word, gari-goe. Compare the ‘voice of a cicada’, semi no koe.

1689

Mt. Yamadera
A Journey into the Northern Interior

Twenty-three years later, Basho has achieved fame. Along the way, he has taken his own pen name, Matsuo Basho, Basho, meaning ‘banana’ for the banana tree that grew outside his cottage in Edo. Yet, he still hears the distant voice of Sengin (Todo Yoshitada) as he climbs the stone steps on Mt. Yamadera on his way to the Temple of Risshakuji.

A 1,000-step climb on stone steps brings one to the top of Mt. Yamadera and the Zen Buddhist temple of Risshakuji. Along the way, Basho hears a cicada’s voice deep within the stones. Perhaps, it is Sengin, still chanting after all these years. One supposes that Basho had a Noh play on his mind in which a spirit comes back to bring a message.

Ah, in stillness, deep within the stones — the cicada’s voice

閑けさや　岩にしみいる　蝉の声
Shizukesa ya iwa ni shimiiru semi no koe

Matsuo Basho, Oku no Hosomichi, Summer 1689

Notes on Translation

shizukesa, quietness, stillness, serenity, tranquility; ya, emphasis

iwa, rock, stone; ni, indicating within; shimiiru, soaking in, seeping

semi no koe, cicada’s voice