Reviews

Matsuo Bashō by Makoto Ueda

sapuche's review

5.0

I read this mostly for the biography it provides, which offers more details than any other book I have in English about Basho's life and poetry. The section on renku, with explanations of each team-written verse, is especially elucidating. This is a short scholarly work that's very accessible both to casual and serious readers interested in Basho's life, work, and influence. I only wish it had been longer!

oldpondnewfrog's review

3.0

Literary biography of Basho.

The master of the inn we stayed at said, "I am called Buddha Gozaemon. People honor me with this name because I try to be honest in everything I do. So please make yourselves at home and have a good rest tonight."

I was impressed with the renku, which I didn't know about, and which Basho considered his true legacy.

As a very general rule, cherry blossoms should appear in the 17th and 35th verses of a 36-verse renku, while the moon is expected to enter the poem in the fifth, 13th, and 29th verses.

I also liked the names of his huts—the House of Fallen Persimmons, the Unreal Hut.

Indeed, I've become restless and fear of rain and clouds every night fall, even when the moon is yet in its early phases.

We know him now for haiku though, the most famous of which I think of as:

Old pond
New frog
Splash