Illustrated Basho Haiku Poems

by Gary Gauthier

This book can be used to explore the subtle beauty of haiku poetry, as a guide to meditation, or to appreciate the reproduced paintings that accompany the poems. The paintings are in brilliant color and each features the Japanese parasol.

Matsuo Basho (1644 - 1694) was born Matsuo Kinsaku during the early Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Basho was recognized for his work in a poetic form that was a precursor to the haiku. Over the course of time, Basho became recognized as an unparalleled master of the haiku. His work is internationally renowned, and his poems are reproduced at many historical sites in Japan.

Genres: Poetry, Japan

86 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 25, 2011

About the author

I'm working on my first novel, a crime thriller set in New Orleans just before Hurricane Katrina's landfall. My blog is titled Literary Snippets and gives me the opportunity to express and share my appreciation for art and literature. I occasionally post articles as well. Some of my favorite writers are Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe. But this changes from time to time. Stay tuned!

Reviews

[Jessaka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a small book, and if you like photos I would not get it on Kindle. This would really make a great address book. I would certainly buy it.

While I didn't think that the poems were Matsuo Basho's best, it was nice seeing new poems of his. And these are a couple of my own favorites:

"The temple bell stops.
But the sound keeps
coming
out of the flowers."

"Temple bells die out.
The fragrant
blossoms remain.
A perfect evening!"

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Or, almost good. Most of the translations, in my opinion, failed to capture the spirit of haiku with too modern an interpretation. I failed to truly feel the spring or the summer. And when I finally did - a picture happened. In this case, the illustrations tore me out of my reading instead of enhancing it. The pictures didn't really fit the poems featured in this collection, I think.

[Mindy Shuman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

While the poetry is good, the paintings of Victorian women felt ill-suited to a book about Japanese life. They spoiled the reading of it and I felt the need to just get it over with. There are better books of Basho Poetry.

[Robert Faron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ordered haiku

The lover haikus line up for the seasons. The lovely illustrations of women and parasols include. But no connection. Maybe Mindfulness but no explanation.

[P.J. Dexheimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much from So little.

Haiku is becoming one of faces in poetry. So simple, yet so powerful. A great little read...includes some great artwork to view between breaks.

[Chris Lohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not one of my favorite books of Haiku. I read it on a kindle, so the images were all in black and white. I don't think color would have helped improve my opinion of the book.
The images seemed to have nothing to do with the poems. They felt more like post cards than imagery I'd associate with Haiku.
I have read a lot of Master Basho's poetry. It was nice to read quite a few new poems, although I can't say this book was his best material.
Unfortunately, I wouldn't really recommend this book unless you don't have access to any other books of Haiku.

[Badlydone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a great admirer of Basho's work and have read multiple English translations.

I was disappointed in this book for two reasons. The first is that the author tries to stick to a 5-7-5 syllable structure in English. This simply does not work as Japanese and English have different grammatical structures and English haiku capture the spirit of haiku (Wabi Sabi) only when using fewer syllables as is accepted by most of the English haiku community now. The result is that many of the translations appear "forced".

My second peeve is the illustrations. Every one of them depict a lady with a Japanese parasol. While these are pretty and Renoir-sih, they do not really reflect the spirit of Basho.

I preferred the translations of Jane Reichhold or Robert Hass over this one.It was Basho's work and not the author's tanslations that helped get through this book.

[Jeremy Weathers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Artless translations and out-of-place art

First, the paintings have nothing to do with Basho's poems, and practically none of the paintings have anything to do with Japan - is this a lack of taste in the author, some hybrid-Surrealistic artistic vision, or a vision from a different state of mind?

Second, while I'm not expert, the translations feel flat and uninspired. I just read Jane Hirshfield's "The Heart of Haiku" and she has:

roadside-skeleton-thoughts:
wind penetrates
through to the heart

in contrast to Gauthier's:

My weathered bones!
Just thinking of the wind,
it pierces my body.

Maybe those are two separate poems - unlike Hirshfield, Gauthier does not include the original (transliterated) text.

[Arthur Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basho wonderfully illustrated. I very much enjoyed this volume of Haiku.

[Jack Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic haiku book with great illustrations. A great book to take along when you take the "Narrow Road to the North" tour.

[Patsy Pruitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures

Poetry is very short and simple, mostly about the seasons. Pictures are of females in relaxed pose with large Japanese umbrellas.