10 pages • 20 minutes read
Old Pond
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Further Reading
“Early Summer Rain” by Yosa Buson
Yosa Buson (1716-1784), along with Matsuo Bashō and Kobayashi Issa, is a haiku master and one of the greatest poets of the Edo period. Though Buson was born after Bashō’s death, Buson studied Bashō’s style and paid homage to Bashō through his writing. Buson was also a popular painter; he imbues his haiku imagery with painting-like clarity.
The Spring of My Life by Kobayashi Issa
Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) is one of the great haiku masters, along with Matsuo Bashō and Yosa Buson. Issa hailed from a farming lineage and his poems incorporate dialect and slang. Because Issa used more accessible language in his poems, his poetry reached the masses in a way earlier haiku did not.
The Works of Li Po
Li Po (701-762) is a Chinese poet from the Tang Dynasty. Scholars often cite Li Po as one of the two greatest Chinese poets to date. Li Po’s poetry and aesthetic influenced the younger Bashō so much that one of Bashō’s earlier nicknames was Tosei, which means “Green Peach.” He chose Tosei to honor Li Po, whose pseudonym translated as “White Plum.” Li Po is synonymous with poetry and revolutionizing Chinese traditional poetry, just as Bashō changed Japanese poetry when revolutionizing haiku.
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