The Path of Flowering Thorn

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.