Basho The Complete Haiku

by Basho, Matsuo; Reichhold, Jane; Reichhold, Jane; Tsujimura, Shiro

• ISBN13: 9784770030634
• ISBN10: 4770030630
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-07-01
• Publisher: Kodansha USA

Summary

Basho stands today as Japans most renowned writer, and one of the most revered. Wherever Japanese literature, poetry or Zen are studied, his oeuvre carries weight. Every new student of haiku quickly learns that Basho was the greatest of the Old Japanese Masters. Yet despite his stature, Bashos complete haiku have not been collected into a single volume. Until now. To render the writers full body of work into English, Jane Reichhold, an American haiku poet and translator, dedicated over ten years of study. In Basho: The Complete Haiku, she accomplishes the feat with distinction. Dividing his creative output into seven periods of development, Reichhold frames each period with a decisive biographical sketch of the poets travels, creative influences and personal triumphs and defeats. Scrupulously annotated notes accompany each poem; and a glossary and three indexes fill out the volume. The Foreword has been contributed by two-time U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins; and original sumi-e ink drawings by artist Shiro Tsujimura complement the haiku throughout the book. Reichhold notes that, Basho was a genius with words. He obsessively sought out the right word for each phrase of the succinct seventeen-syllable haiku, seeking the very essence of experience and expression. With equal dedication, Reichhold sought the ideal translations. As a result, Basho: The Complete Haiku is likely to become the essential work on this brilliant poet and will stand as the most authoritative book on the subject for many years to come.

Author Biography

Jane Reichhold is one of the top poets in the American haiku world. She has written over twenty books, most of them on haiku or poetry, including Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-on Guide. Three of her books have received awards from the Haiku Society of America, and she has twice won the Literature Award from the Museum of Haiku in Tokyo.
Billy Collins is a two-time U.S. Poet Laureate. He is the author of many volumes of poetry, including Sailing Alone Around the Room (2002) and The Trouble with Poetry (2007), both from Random House. His reading of poems, Best Cigarettes, became a bestselling CD.
Shiro Tsujimura is a renowned Japanese artist and potter with works in museums around the world. His striking work appears on the cover and throughout the Kodansha International edition of Bashos classic, A Haiku Journey.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 7
Early Poems 1662-74	p. 19
Basho the Professional Poet 1675-79	p. 33
A Retreat to Nature-A Religious Life 1680-83	p. 47
Basho's Journeys in the Way of the Poet 1684-88	p. 67
Basho's Journey to the Interior 1689	p. 127
At the Peak and Still Traveling 1690-91	p. 155
Basho Finds the Secret of Greatness in Poetry and Life 1692-94	p. 185
Notes
Commentary, literal translations, Romanized versions, and original Japanese	p. 233
Appendices & Back Matter
Haiku Techniques	p. 397
Selected Chronology of the Life of Matsuo Basho	p. 409
Glossary of Literary Terms	p. 411
Bibliography	p. 421
Index of First Lines	p. 423
Acknowledgments	p. 431
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