preview

Matsuo Basho Haiku

Decent Essays

Although a haiku is a form of poetry, there are many characteristics that separate haikus and standard poems. While many poems tend to have many lines, a haiku is only composed on three lines with only seventeen syllables total. The primary purpose of a haiku is to link human to nature life while distinguishing two ideas such as continuance and change. These characteristics can clearly be seen in Matsuo Basho’s haikus in, “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”. In Basho’s haiku, “Spring going-, birds crying in tears, in the eyes of a fish”; it is clear to find the common traits that make up a haiku such as “spring” being the seasonal word, the display of a change, as well as the word “going” that cuts the haiku into two different scenes. While

Get Access