Introduction To Basho
Abstract
TakeoR.M. Nakagawa
Haiku is a symbolic poem being the shortest in the world [1]. Haiku is literal sculpture by engraving and removing odd parts as much as possible from the original material, but has potential to fill enormous amount of contents regarding to emotion, atmosphere, and/or scenery. Haiku is essentially different from literal architecture, western poetry, consisting of various components that are added during the composition [2]. Haiku consists of 17 syllables, Kireji (or cutting letter), and Kigo (or seasonal word), and is independent of language. In this letter, after translating a famous Haiku by Basho[1] into English, the literal structure and way how to interpret the Haiku have been introduced and discussed. The mutual communication between the composer and readers is critical in Haiku, which is always exposed to free criticism and interpretation by readers. This is due to history of the formation and symbolic nature in the literal structure expressed by a few syllable points. It is suggested that pointillism plays the vital role not only in Haiku and painting, but also in meanders and turbulence in physics.
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