In 1693, parting from his favorite disciple Kyoroku, Basho said, “Didn't the retired Emperor Go-Toba say of Saigyo's poetry that it contained truth tinged with sorrow? Take strength from his words and follow unswervingly the narrow thread of the Way of poetry.”
a sliver of moon...
I cling to the thin line
of labor
to capture loneliness
in love poetry
Note: Emperor Go-Toba (1180-1239) was perhaps the best poet among Japan's sovereigns. For more information, see Yoshiko Kurata Dykstra, Sources of Japanese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600. Volume 1, p.351.
Note: Emperor Go-Toba (1180-1239) was perhaps the best poet among Japan's sovereigns. For more information, see Yoshiko Kurata Dykstra, Sources of Japanese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600. Volume 1, p.351.
Basho said to [his favorite disciple Kyoroku] as [they] departed, "My poetry is like a stove in the summer or a fan in winter. It runs against the popular tastes and has no practical use. But there is much that is affecting even in the poems of Toshinari and Saigyo that were lightly tossed off. Didn't the retired Emperor Go-Toba say of their poetry that it contained truth tinged with sorrow? Take strength from his words and follow unswervingly the narrow thread of the Way of Poetry.Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought. That is what Kukai wrote, and it is true of haikai poetry as well."
ReplyDeleteFor more information, see Yoshiko Kurata Dykstra, Sources of Japanese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600. Volume 1, p.351-2.