JAPANESE POETRY
43
seeds of the old school of haikai had been scattered here, and the days of its flowering, unforgotten, still brought the sound of the northern flute to the solitary lives of the poets of Ōishida. They said, ‘We are groping ahead on the road of poetry, uncertain as to whether to follow the old or the new way, but here no one can guide us. Will you not help?’ I was unable to refuse them, and joined in making a roll of linked-verse. Of all the poetry-gatherings of my journey, this showed the most taste.”
We may imagine the effort put forth by the local poets to be worthy of the honour of joining with the great master, and they did not do badly. Bashō began the series with:
| samidare wo | Gathering seawards |
| atsumete suzushi | The rains of May, coolly flows |
| Mogami-gawa | Mogami River. |
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| kishi ni hotaru wo | The little fishing boats tie |
| tsunagu funagai | Their firefly lights to the bank. |
| Ichiei. | |
| uribatake | The melon fields |
| izayou sora ni | Wait for the moon to shine from |
| kage machite | The hesitant sky. |
| Sora. | |
| sato wo mukai ni | Going off towards the village |
| kuwa no hosomichi | A path through the mulberry-trees. |
| Sensui. |
These verses have charm and blend with one another suitably to describe scenes in Ōishida during the spring rains. But often, even when Bashō himself was taking part, the linked-verse tended to break up into unrelated fragments, and one has the impression then that the participants are more anxious to express
