Haiku master Basho(1644-1694)
The 17th-century Japanese haiku master Basho was born Matsuo Kinsaku near Kyoto, Japan, to a minor samurai and his wife. Soon after the poet’s birth, Japan closed its borders, beginning a seclusion that allowed its native culture to flourish. It is believed that Basho’s siblings became farmers, while Basho, at Ueno Castle in the service of the local lord’s son, grew interested in literature. After the young lord’s early death, Basho left the castle and moved to Kyoto, where he studied with Kigin, a distinguished local poet. During these early years Basho studied Chinese poetry and Taoism, and soon began writing haikai no renga, a form of linked verses composed in collaboration.
The opening verse of a renga, known as hokku, is structured as three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. In Basho’s time, poets were beginning to take the hokku’s form as a template for composing small standalone poems engaging natural imagery, a form that eventually became known as haiku. Basho was a master of the form. He published his haiku under several names, including Tosei, or “Green Peach,” out of respect for the Chinese poet Li Po, whose name translates to “White Plum.” Basho’s haiku were published in numerous anthologies, and he edited Kai Oi, or Seashell Game (1672), and Minashiguri, or Shriveled Chestnuts (1683), anthologies that also included a selection of his own work.
-
LIVE
Steven Crowder
1 hour ago🔴 DÉJÀ VU: Google is Rigging the Election Against Trump AGAIN and Here’s How
59,132 watching -
26:11
Breaking Points
34 minutes ago7/29/24: LIVE AMA!
72 -
1:29:46
Graham Allen
2 hours agoThe Olympics Mock God, Google Is Removing Trump Assassination, And The DNC Coup Isn’t Over Yet!!
27.9K107 -
LIVE
Matt Kohrs
15 hours agoMy Top Trade of The Week & Breaking Market News || The MK Show
1,797 watching -
LIVE
The Kirk Minihane Show
15 hours agoKMS LIVE | July 29, 2024
771 watching -
LIVE
Wendy Bell Radio
5 hours agoDo Democrats Even Want Kamala?
9,085 watching -
25:11
BonginoReport
3 hours agoPaganist Paris Olympics Mocks Christianity (Ep.09) - 07/29/24
42.3K74 -
1:45:57
The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters
3 hours agoThe Podcast of the Lotus Eaters #966
29.9K18 -
10:50
Sideserf Cake Studio
14 hours agoI Made a Hyperrealistic Minecraft TNT Cake (THAT SMOKES!)
20.6K3 -
1:24:42
jeffahern
2 hours agoMonday Madness with Jeff Ahern (France's F-You to Catholics)
15.9K4