On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho (Penguin Classics)

This is a short collection of English translations of the haiku poetry of Matsuo Bashō. Bashō is one of the seminal figures in Japanese literature, and was a fascinating person. Living in 17th century Japan, his hometown was Iga-Ueno (a city whose other claim to fame was being one of two centers of medieval black-ops warriors known as ninja,) but he was also an ardent traveler and Zen Buddhist. One will note that many of his poems are about traveling.The name of the collection is drawn from one of the poems (labeled “152” in this collection) that reads: “girl cat, so thin on love and barley”Translating poetry is one of the hardest language tasks imaginable—and translating haiku to English is the hardest of the hard. This is because Japanese is grammatically sparse and the number of beats per syllable is limited, while English… not so much. Therefore, if one literally translates, not only would one likely get circa-2000 Babel Fish gibberish, the Zen simplicity vanishes. One has to appreciate any haiku to English translation that gets some of the feel of haiku right while still conveying meaning. This collection does a nice job in many cases, and maybe does it as well as can be expected.The original poems [i.e. the Japanese] aren’t included. This may not seem like an issue to a reader who doesn’t know Japanese, but it can be nice to read the original poem phonetically (Japanese is a very phonetic language—unlike English.) The sound of a poem can be as evocative as its meaning. Some haiku translations offer three versions of the poem (i.e. the Japanese characters [useful only for Japanese readers], a Romanized spelling of the Japanese poem, and the translated poem), but—except for some of the poems referenced in the introduction—this one only gives the translation.There is a substantial introduction that both gives one insight into Bashō as a person and poet, and puts his haiku into a broader context. There are also some end-notes for many of the poems to make sense of words and phrases that may not make sense to a contemporary English reader. There are some drawings that aren’t necessary, but they don’t hurt either, making a nice way to break up the collection. The book consists of about 50 pages of poems (with 5 haiku / page, or 250+ poems), and is less than 100 pages in total.I would recommend this collection for poetry lovers. While poetry translations can be perilous, they can also offer new insight--even if one has read multiple translations of the same poem in the past.

I have been wanting this book of haiku poems by the Japanese master, Basho, for so many years and I finally treated myself to it with some birthday money. So worth the wait.

I would like to first of all mention how damaging and inaccurate the review by ty hadman is. I decided to not buy this book a long time ago, due to that review. This is probably the best translation of bashos haiku. There is nothing added to these translations. They are exactly what Basho wrote. If you really take your time and read that damaging review by ty hadman, you will realise that nothing he says makes sense.example; he says that the robe haiku is about basho trying on a new robe and not feeling himself - let's see; in my new robe-this morning-someone else...I actually believe Mr. Stryk nailed it! These are the bare bones haikus.Please just ignore that review and buy this book. I am also very excited about Stryks Issa translations in the dumpling fields!

a must read for any poetry fanatic. simple and elegant, like a parisian cardigan.

The writingAppeals to my inner senseOf blissLike a rushing brookPlaying among rocks.

While not the best basho read, still was moved by many of the haiku. I think my issue with it is that some/many of the poems are a bit too literal of a translation and it loses the emotion basho might have been trying to communicate, because the English is so awkward. But I don't regret getting this book.

Haiku poems by a master

This is an insult to the memory of Bashō. It lacks the original period Japanese, an exact translation, and a justification for the transliteration. Sorry I even saw it. Returned it immediately.

Timeless clarity and closeness to nature, each of Basho’s poems is surprising, elegant and beautiful.The more you read them the better they get, it takes a master to capture fleeting complex moments in a haiku.

Enjoyed this very much and I'm looking forward to revisiting this work over and over again throughout my life. I think there's always some new insights to glean from Basho with each new season.

I have published poetry works including Haiku myself and have over the years drawn on images presented by Basho, he's a wonderful writer, almost contempary in his period if that's possable.If you like Haiku you'll love this rendering of his works.

A beautiful collection of Haiku's, with Basho personality very much shining though

A comprehensive guide to and review of haiku with many examples. A brief history of Matsuo Basho. DT.