Basho and His Interpreters: Selected Hokku with Commentary (Paperback)
This book has a dual purpose. The first is to present in a new English translation 255 representative hokku (or haiku) poems of Matsuo Basho (1644-94), the Japanese poet who is generally considered the most influential figure in the history of the genre. The second is to make available in English a wide spectrum of Japanese critical commentary on the poems over the last three hundred years.
Makoto Ueda is Professor of Japanese at Stanford University.
"The first book in a Western language that conveys the richness, range, genius, and power of Basho's poetry. . . . A gem of a work."—Chanoyu Quarterly
"The knowledge, skill, effort and care put into this book should not be understated. . . . There is much enjoyment to be had from it, for you can open to any page of haiku and you yourself become an interpreter of great poetry."
Monumenta Nipponica
"This book contains much wealth for thought as well as for sheer enjoyment. . . . It is a wonderful gift to non-readers of Japanese who aspire to come as close as possible to the 'genius' of Basho's hokku through English translation. . . . Ueda's translations are in the end his commentaries. Moreoever, they are ideal commentaries—at once faithful, foreign, imaginative, daring, and loving."
Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese
"The knowledge, skill, effort and care put into this book should not be understated. . . . There is much enjoyment to be had from it, for you can open to any page of haiku and you yourself become an interpreter of great poetry."
Monumenta Nipponica
"This book contains much wealth for thought as well as for sheer enjoyment. . . . It is a wonderful gift to non-readers of Japanese who aspire to come as close as possible to the 'genius' of Basho's hokku through English translation. . . . Ueda's translations are in the end his commentaries. Moreoever, they are ideal commentaries—at once faithful, foreign, imaginative, daring, and loving."
Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese