Director, Environmental Studies
Professor of English

MATSUO BASHŌ

 

Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694) is not only the most beloved poet of Japan. He also is probably the most famous non-Western poet in the Western world, and the most influential non-Western poet for contemporary Western poetry. He was a master of haiku (called hokku in his time), linked verse (haikai no renga, now called renku), and literary travel journals. Fortunately, we have a wide range of translations of his writings as well as some sophisticated studies of his literary works, aesthetic vision, and religious experience. Below are some links that can give access to this great writer.

 

Translations
David Landis Barnhill. Bashō’s Haiku: Selected Poetry of Matsuo Bashō. State University of New York Press, 2004. (At Amazon.com)
David Landis Barnhill. Bashō’s Journey: Selected Literary Prose by Matsuo Bashō. State University of New York Press, 2005. (At Amazon.com)
Bibliography of Bashō's haiku: translations, studies, and editions (as html) (in Word)
Bibliography of Bashō's prose: translations, studies, and editions (as html) (in Word)

 

Information about Bashō
Chronology of his life (as html) (in Word)
Introduction to Bashō's haiku (in Word)
Introduction to Bashō's journals (in Word)

 

Selections from Bashō
Opening passage to The Narrow Road to the Deep North: 10 translations (as html) (in Word)
Selections from Bashō's poetics (in Word)

 

Terms and images
Glossary of terms relevant to Bashō (as html) (in Word)
Major nature images in Bashō: alphabetical (as html) (in Word)
Major nature images in Bashō: by season (as html) (in Word)

 

Indexes of poems, names, and themes in Bashō's Haiku and Bashō’s Journey
Index of haiku poems in romanized Japanese (as html) (in Word)
Index of names that appear in Bashō's haiku (as html) (in Word)
Index to names, places, and themes in Bashō's travel journals and haibun (as html) (in Word)