Haiku Master Buson

Buson is considered one of the 4 great haiku masters. He was an artist by trade, and his haiku has a strong sense of imagery and reflects a keen sense of observation. He seems to have viewed Basho as his primary influence, and he is probably best contrasted with the other great haiku masters by having lived a fairly ordinary and relatively happy life.

This is a good overall compilation of Buson's works. It includes several introductory essays on his poetry and a brief biography -- the introductory essays are a bit disorganized, but they do the job. It also includes a hefty collection of haiku, organized by season, and a few longer poems, essays, stories, and letters by Buson. The haiku include romaji and kanji versions, so this is a nice show more book for continued study. The book is very practical: I found the translations quite accurate, if a little less exciting than I'd hoped, but with no problems I could really point my finger at. I particularly enjoyed Buson's little "ghost stories" about foxes and badgers. I found that his poems inspired me to write quite a bit in imitation, so Buson definitely had his artistic effect on me. show less