Customer Reviews

The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, & Issa (Essential Poets)

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
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I always find myself returning to this lovely collection
of haiku by Basho, Buson and Issa.

The translations capture both the distinctive styles of
the masters as well as the oft-mentioned "aha moment".
I have only to turn a few pages to feel inspiration,
motivation, exaltation and profound gratitude for these
brief jewels. How they transcend time and place!

Hass helpfully provides a wonderful introduction and
notes for these exquisitely crafted haiku. A recommended
book for the novice and advanced reader/writer/lover
of haiku.

This book is a collection of haiku by three great Japanese masters- Basho, Buson and Issa who all lived between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries.

The book is divided into four sections, one on each master, followed by a section containing Basho's thoughts on haiku in general. Each of the first three sections starts with a brief but good introduction to the master followed by the translations of his haiku. Each section concludes with other pieces of writing (prose and haiku) by the poet. This helps to give a picture of the person behind the poem and some idea of the life and times that the poet lived in. Not being familiar with life in Japan from a few centuries ago, I found this very helpful in getting a better understanding of the context in which the poems are set.

There are notes at the back which explain some of the nuances and anything significant one has to know about certain Haiku. It helps to keep this in mind when reading the haiku. The fourth section in the book "Basho on Poetry" is a joy to read, and captures the spirit of Haiku. Each sentence here is worth preserving! There is also a list of books for further reading which I found useful.

Overall, this book is a good addition to the library, whether one is interested in writing Haiku or not.

This book features versions of about one hundred poems by each of three masters in haiku tradition, Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), Yosa Buson (1716-1783), and Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827). The introduction tells us that according to Japanese literary criticism, these three men represent three types of the poet. Basho is seen as the ascetic and seeker, Buson the artist, and Issa the humanist. The differences in each poet's style can be seen at a glance. This book contains interesting short biographies of each of the men as well as some of their prose and notes on the poems. There are a few interesting black and white illustrations throughout the book including some by Yosa Buson himself. The introduction by Robert Hass is a superb introduction to haiku itself.
These beautiful three line poems, located in Nature with their implied Buddhist reflection are each a meditation, a centering, and a crystalline moment of realization. Reading them has a way of bringing about calm and peace within the reader. The symbolism of the seasons and the Japanese habit of mind blend together in these poems to create an alchemy of reflection that is unsurpassed in literature. The exquisite skill of these three masters make their subject matter seem completely organic, without artifice. Each poem contains a unique "Ah!" experience because they pierce directly to the soul, activating the human capacity for seeing with a still mind and an observing heart.
If you are new to haiku this is a wonderful compendium of the best of the genre. If you are already a lover of haiku this book is a delightfully compact, essential package, a real treasure you are sure to enjoy again and again.

I bought this book four or maybe five years ago and it has never left me since. It's on my bedside table. Wherever and whenever I travel, this book accompanies me. Every time I read any of the haiku, I find something new - not as yet discovered - uplifting - in each.

I've read other translations of these poems; this one is my favorite. Some of them that seemed dull in previous translations are now among my favorite poems of all time. And I loved his description of Issa's life.

I bought this book over ten years ago on the recommendation of a professor. At the time, I was translating haiku from Japanese, and he suggested I take a look at Robert Hass' style of translating. It was timely advice for a fledgling translator. Hass' haiku renderings sometimes stray a little too much from the original meanings to satisfy the needs of scholars, but they are always clear, always graceful, and- after ten years of continually returning to the book- always fresh. I think part of the success of these translations comes from their colloquial language. There is nothing awkward about them, nothing in the language to draw attention to it as a translation. And aren't the best translations like that?-- unobtrusive, inconspicuous, almost like dopplegangers of the original. I believe so, and I believe these translations will have quite a long shelf life.

are even more wonderful/than cormorants" (Issa)

Not being a speaker/reader of japanese, I can't vouch for the fidelity or accuracy of the translations, but I will say this: they are wonderfully true to the essence of haiku, and if you are possessed of a temperament which gets off on this sort of thing, this book will find a happy place in your life (my own copy resides in the bathroom). The biographical pieces and the excerpts from the respective poets' prose works which bookend the 3 haiku selections will provide an affable sense of place and context for the reader unfamiliar with Asian literature, and Hass' simultaneoous understanding of/enthusiasm for his subject matter, and his empathy with the mores and wherefores of the contemporary Occidental reader, are on par with Paul Reps' "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" (not to mention John Cage's "Indeterminacy"!)

If you can forget their age for long enough to read through them a few times, these poems might remind you that everything starts in the banality of things around us, which is really never very banal at all. What keeps us from really looking around ourselves IS ourselves. Everything else is just mosquitoes, grass, wind, tables, the moon, etc. And that is the very simple secret of mind and matter. But hey, come to your own conclusions -- I'm no Zen master, and the only even remotely Zen aspect of this review is that it is now over.

This is the first collection of Japanese haiku I ever read and I was immediately captivated. Since then I have tried to find a similar collection but this one has remained my favourite. Hass' translations seem to convey the very essence of haiku, without relying on the footnotes. The tender translations Issa are particular favourites. In fact, I have even been tempted to study Japanese just in order to find out whether the original poems measure up to Hass' translations.

I fully believe in the translating philosophy that poems should be rendered in the most contemporary language possible. Translating archaic language with archaic equivalents doesn't necessarily convey what it was like for contemporary audiences of the originals to read and experience them.

And that is what I like most about this collection. Robert Hass decided to use contemporary language for these haiku, and in this case, his contemporary language: American English. The haiku are highly readable and accessible. I've read criticisms to the contrary, namely that he loses the tone of the originals and takes some liberties with meaning. While I think it may be helpful to point this out, I don't think it is fair criticism, per se. There had to be a compromise, and Robert Hass consciously made a decision and consistently stuck to his preferred style. These aren't academic translations, and thank goodness. As a result, we have fresh translations of wonderful classics.

I love this collection of haiku. I've marked several favorites with Post-It flags and thumb through it often. I recommend it to anyone, especially people who are knew to haiku, because it includes a variety of themes and the poems were all written by true masters of the art. It's simply wonderful.