Writing & Reading Haiku
By Paul ElliottLesson 2: Basho, Buson, Issa and Shiki
Introduction
Look in any book on haiku and the four poets that will always be represented are Matsuo Basho, Yosa Buson, Kobayashi Issa and Masaoka Shiki. In Japanese literature, these four men are seen as the greatest exponents of their art, comparable to Shakespeare, Milton, Browning and Eliot in English. To the modern haiku scholar and poet, these artists represent four different facets of haiku writing and ways of viewing the world.
This is, of course a simplistic view, but one that is very widely held. Even (and probably especially) the great populiser of haiku, R.H. Blyth, could not refrain from generalising somewhat about the great four of Japanese literature:
“There are three great names in the history of haiku, Basho, Buson and Issa; we may include a fourth, Shiki. Basho is the religious man, Buson the artist, Issa the humanist.” (Haiku: Eastern Culture)
Adding to this, Shiki is seen as the great moderniser of haiku, the objective poet of the eye and the physical impression.
These categorisations help us to grasp the way in which the four fit together, but perhaps do not reflect the truth. The truth is that each poet adopts the styles and persona of the other as and when they feel fit. As we shall see, Basho can be painterly and concerned with images. Issa and Buson can be spiritual and concerned with Zen themes. The division is, shall we say, more for our benefit than theirs.
Print this page
