The Path of Flowering Thorn
Life and Poetry of Yosa Buson
Makoto Ueda(Author)
Stanford University Press
Published on 3. December 2005
Book
Hardback
246 pages
978-0-8047-3042-6 (ISBN)
Description
Yosa Buson (1716-83) is a towering figure in the history of haiku. In reputation his only rival is Matsuo Basho, the very father of haiku, who almost singlehandedly elevated the seventeen-syllable verse to a mature and viable poetic form during the seventeenth century. While Buson considered Basho his mentor and actively participated in the Return to Basho movement, he was also aware of his distinctly different temperament and consciously attempted to cultivate it in his poetry. Compared with Basho, he was more receptive to bright colors and sensually appealing subjects and less reluctant to use them for creating a picturesque, dramatic, or even erotic effect. A painter by profession, Buson took delight in the natural beauty of colors and forms as well as in the artistic beauty of composition. A seeker of ideals that were more aesthetic than religious or moral, he freely let his imagination wander into a land of exotic beauty far removed from contemporary society, often evoking ancient China, Heian Japan, and the world of the supernatural.
Reviews / Votes
'This is a vintage yield of Ueda's work - a small book, deceptively simple, but an outstanding contribution to the appreciation of Japanese poetry and the narrow store of Western scholarship on Japan. It is not only the first English biography of Buson, in many ways the most rewarding of the haiku poets, but the finest introduction to his poetic art.' Howard Hibbett, Harvard UniversityMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Palo Alto
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
13 half-tones 4 maps
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
510 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8047-3042-6 (9780804730426)
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Schweitzer Classification
Content
1. The beginning of the path; 2. The wanderings; 3. Return to the west; 4. More painter than poet; 5. Ascent to Haikai mastership; 6. Detaches from the mundane; 7. Toward Haikai reform; 8. In search of lost childhood; 9. Old master with a smile; 10. The end of the path; Appendices; Indices; Selected bibliography; General Index.