A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Haiku: Major Works by Japan's Best-Loved Poets - From Basho and Issa to Ryokan and Santoka, with Works by Six Women Poets
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- Create Date：2023-04-11 09:52:32
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：William Scott Wilson
- ISBN：480531687X
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Summary
An old pond;
a frog jumps
the sound of water
-- Basho
This comprehensive introduction to Japan's best-loved haiku poets is the perfect book for anyone wanting to learn about haiku。 Compiled and with commentary by renowned author and translator William Scott Wilson， the book features 26 poets and 550 haiku， exquisitely translated。 Wilson takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the works of the major Japanese poets from the fifteenth century up to the present。
The poets include Basho， Shiki， Buson and Issa （the "Great Four"） along with other well-known practitioners of the genre such as Ryokan， Kikaku and Chora。 Wilson gives his own brand-new renditions of poems that are already known as classics， and also shares with us the delightful work of a number of poets who are rarely found in English translation， such as six female poets including Chiyojo and Hisajo， as well as novelist Natsume Soseki， who， unbeknown to many， also wrote haiku。
The book is divided into sections， each starting with a 2-4 page introduction to each poet， followed by a selection of that poet's haiku， in Japanese script and English translation。 Online audio files are available with recordings of the poems in both English and Japanese。
a frog jumps
the sound of water
-- Basho
This comprehensive introduction to Japan's best-loved haiku poets is the perfect book for anyone wanting to learn about haiku。 Compiled and with commentary by renowned author and translator William Scott Wilson， the book features 26 poets and 550 haiku， exquisitely translated。 Wilson takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the works of the major Japanese poets from the fifteenth century up to the present。
The poets include Basho， Shiki， Buson and Issa （the "Great Four"） along with other well-known practitioners of the genre such as Ryokan， Kikaku and Chora。 Wilson gives his own brand-new renditions of poems that are already known as classics， and also shares with us the delightful work of a number of poets who are rarely found in English translation， such as six female poets including Chiyojo and Hisajo， as well as novelist Natsume Soseki， who， unbeknown to many， also wrote haiku。
The book is divided into sections， each starting with a 2-4 page introduction to each poet， followed by a selection of that poet's haiku， in Japanese script and English translation。 Online audio files are available with recordings of the poems in both English and Japanese。
Reviews
Bernie Gourley
，
This is a delightful， nicely arranged， and well-translated anthology of haiku。 A couple things should be clarified off the bat， given the book’s title （particularly for haiku neophytes。） First of all， “Japanese Haiku” may sound redundant， but the point is that this collection is entirely haiku translated from the work of Japanese poets – historic and modern。 There’s been a huge international production of haiku for quite a while， and even national sub-styles such as American Haiku， but this anth This is a delightful， nicely arranged， and well-translated anthology of haiku。 A couple things should be clarified off the bat， given the book’s title （particularly for haiku neophytes。） First of all， “Japanese Haiku” may sound redundant， but the point is that this collection is entirely haiku translated from the work of Japanese poets – historic and modern。 There’s been a huge international production of haiku for quite a while， and even national sub-styles such as American Haiku， but this anthology includes none of that。tSecondly， one needn’t put too much stock in the “beginner’s” wording of the title。 I understand their point。 If you’ve done a lot of haiku reading， you will see quite a few familiar poems， and there are none of the related forms （e。g。 tanka， kyoka， renga， haibun， etc。） However， with respect to the first point， the beauty of good poetry is that one can re-read it and get something new out of it each time， and this is especially true if it’s a different translation， which allows one to both take in something of the translator’s perspective as one applies one’s own。 Furthermore， this book has many fine features that will particular benefit experienced and analytical haiku readers。 For one， it has the original poem both in Japanese characters as well as Romanized phonetic Japanese。 （The latter makes it easy to see how the poet worked sound and syllabic arrangement。） There’re also brief biographies for all the poets， which is both useful for knowing what informed their craft， but also interesting in that a surprising number of these haiku poets lived colorful lives。 tThere are three sections to the book that work in the direction of increasing levels of obscurity。 It begins with the big four of haiku （Bashō， Shiki， Buson， and Issa。） Then there’s a section with a large number of notable， but not Bashō-level poets。 Finally， there are lesser-known poets， many of whom were quite prolific and had unique takes on the form。 The latter two sections include poets that span from the contemporaries of Bashō to twentieth century poets。 tIf you enjoy haiku， I’d highly recommend this collection。 I learned more about suspensive form in haiku and the varying styles of free verse haiku poets in Japan just through careful reading。 。。。more
tpg0
，
As an AI language model， I cannot give personal opinions， but I can provide information on the book 'A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Haiku。' This book is a great introduction to Japanese haiku and contains major works by famous poets such as Basho， Issa， Ryokan， and Santoka。 It also includes works by six women poets， which is a nice addition。 The book provides background information on haiku and its traditional forms， along with translations of the poems。 It is a good resource for anyone interested in learning more about the art form of haiku。
tpg1
，
As an AI language model， I am not capable of having preferences or opinions。 However， I can provide you with a summary of the book。 'A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Haiku: Major Works by Japan's Best-Loved Poets' is a collection of classic Haiku poems written by famous Japanese poets， including Basho， Issa， Ryokan， Santoka， and six women poets。 This book is an excellent introduction to the many styles of Haiku and the cultural significance of these poems。 It includes translations of the original poems， notes and explanations， and various critical perspectives。 This book is perfect for anyone interested in learning more about Japanese poetry and Haiku， especially beginners who need a comprehensive understanding of the subject。
tpg2
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