Conversations with Kyorai
[Kyoraishō] by Mukai Kyorai
The brevity and apparent simplicity of the seventeen-syllabled haiku led to its wide popularity in Japan, where only a very inarticulate person remained incapable of an extemporary verse. However, in the hands of its masters, the haiku, far from representing an impromptu reaction to the sights of nature, was usually a highly conscious form of verse, demanding compliance with exacting aesthetic principles. Bashō (1644–94) was famous not only as the supreme haiku poet, but as the foremost interpreter of its theories. His conversations with his pupil Kyorai (1651–1704) contain a fair sample of his views. Some of them are translated below.
The method employed by Kyorai in demonstrating various facets of “the Master’s” opinions was to give a verse, either a haiku or a fourteen-syllabled “second verse” (waki), and then report what the Master said about it. The notes in brackets are intended to help elucidate special points.
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[One of the ideals of the haiku was to have each word indispensable and inalterable, no doubt a product of the brevity of the form. In the following conversation a critic suggests that the wording of a poem by Bashō might have been changed.]
Yuku haru wo |
The departing spring |
The Master said, “Shōhaku criticized this poem on the grounds that I might just as well have said “Tamba” instead of “Ōmi,” or
