Reviews for On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho

The average rating for On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-02-03 00:00:00 Joseph Deacon Collection of Basho poems, the title taken from one about a cat who had grown either sick or thin (Idon't recall which) on love and barley. I missed the framework of the journey that there is in The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches. The selection ends with what is said to be Basho's death bed poem: tabi ni yande / yume wa kareno wo / kake meguru falling sick on a journey / my dream goes wandering / over a field of dried grass [1694] still beautiful and softly moving.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-09-17 00:00:00 James Scott Haiku was unknown to me until I read the Spring Moon and I simply fell for this particular form of poetry. So I wanted to read some more and found this classic haiku book by Matsuo Bashō. Although it's been translated from the original Japanese version and I was quite unsure that it would be able to convey the authentic essence of Bashō's writing, it hasn't disappointed me. Matsuo Bashō, originally known as Matsuo Kinsaku was the first great haiku poet. He was a wanderer, a lover of nature and solitude. His journey was more like a spiritual one and it helped him to understand the beauty of life. And this worked as the driving force for him to come up with these beautiful haikus. His works were focused on the beauty of nature as well as it highlighted the serenity that lies within solitude. "Spring night, cherry- blossom dawn." ………………………. "Autumn winds - look, the chestnut never more green." ………………………. "Sleeping willow -- soul of the nightingale." ………………………. "On a leafless branch A crow comes to rest - Autumn nightfall" Aren't these beautiful? The book is divided into four chapters- Introduction, Acknowledgement, The Haiku, Notes. The introduction and acknowledgment cover the analysis of the early life of Basho as well as his works. After that comes The Haiku and then Notes. There are some terms, some references used here which are quite common in Japanese culture but can be unfamiliar to others. So, The Notes part is smartly designed to help the readers who are foreign to these Japanese basics. Overall it's a beautiful book with some soothing and thought-provoking haikus. I liked it!