Basho

Basho

1. Where and when does Basho start his travels?

Basho's journey starts from a 17th Century Japanese city called Edo (present-day Tokyo). He had a cottage in a quiet, rural part of the city. He left Edo in the Spring season, " It was the Twenty-seventh Day, almost the end of the Third Month." (p. 2112)

2. Why does Basho start his travels?

Like many of us do, Basho was beginning to question the purpose of his existence. In comparison to what Dante was going through during the time he wrote the Inferno, Basho is having somewhat of a mid-life crisis.

" I myself fell prey to wanderlust some years ago, desiring nothing better than to be a vagrant cloud scudding before the wind... But the year ended before I knew it... Bewitched by the god of restlessness, I lost my peace of mind; summoned by the spirits of the road, I felt unable to settle down to anything."

Also, consider the political context surrounding Basho. He lives in an Imperialist society where material benefits are held on high and there is a huge gap between the social elite and the poor. At this point, Basho feels the world is out of balance. He sought an austere existence, lived in solitude and consecrated his life to poetry. The purpose of his travels was a "poetic devotion to nature." Also, for Basho, this pilgrimage through nature was a search for inspiration from places made famous by literature and history. This is an interesting parallel to Montaigne... but Basho actually visited the places he read about in books. At the beginning, he makes his point clearly "travel is life."

3. What is the role of the haiku poems in the text?

Basho takes these small little poems and places them throughout the text to tell the story of his travels. Each haiku tells the reader where Basho is, what he is doing and what is going on around him. Each poem expresses emotional/visual content of carefully chosen events.

Also, the structure of the haiku is entirely simplistic - this reflects Basho's and Sora's humble way of life. In only 17 syllables the poets capture present moments. As Elizabeth mentioned in lecture, each haiku is a "toast" to the present moment and all its elements. She also described the poems as "gifts" to the reader. In comparison to Montaigne, Basho is not only quoting poets and scholars, he is finding poems to suit the moments he experiences. Basho is making an attempt to take the reader on a journey into his own personal paradigm where nature is king.

Further, remember Basho's famous poem that Elizabeth pointed out in class:

"Furuike ya"

POEM TRANSLATION MEANING

furuike ya a pond nature, permanence

kawazu tobikomu frog jumps in springtime, twilight

mizu no oto sound of water ripples and splash... onomatopoeia

She referred to this as the Japanese "to be or not to be"

4. Pick a single haiku and explain its concerns and affects on the story.

p. 2112

Departing springtime:

birds lament and fishes too

have tears in their eyes.

http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~kohl/basho/1-prologue/01-4.html (left)

http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~kohl/basho/2-departure/index.html (Right)

On the left is a picture of Basho's departure on the Sumida River, and to the right is a picture of friends waving goodbye to Basho. The haiku that I picked was written during this departure time.

* "Departing springtime" tells us that he is leaving in the Spring... Spring is supposed to be a fresh, happy and joyous time with the flowers blooming and birds singing... there is a juxtaposition between the cheerful season and Basho's uncertainty and concern of the long journey ahead

* "birds lament and fishes too" Again, a juxtaposition to the season... because of Basho's state of mind at the time, everything around him appears somber and grave.

* "have tears in their eyes" Basho's friends are sad to see him go... he is going to be missed... Basho himself sheds tears "when [he] came to the parting of the ways, overwhelmed by the prospect of the long journey ahead."

Everything looks sad and earnest... Basho finds it hard to stride out in solemnly. What lies ahead is unpredictable.

5. Why is Basho so affected by the evening he overhears the prostitues in Echigo and what do you think of his poem at the bottom of page 2129?

" How wretched the karma that had doomed them to such and existence!" Basho has deep pity for these women who live a life "exchanging fleeting vows with every passerby." He says that they had "fallen low indeed" Here he is, living a live of celibacy and solitude, sharing a hotel with these "ladies of pleasure" I would imagine that at