Images and Japanese Poetry 06/09/2013

Basho

The video, “Matsuo Basho,” created by Raul Santiago Sabazco juxtaposes images, the majority of which include landscapes depicting water, with lines of Basho’s haiku poetry. The natural world and simplistic scenes of everyday life are conveyed through haiku, and the images presented in the video seem to mirror the various scenes Basho may have encountered on his journey as depicted in The Narrow Road to the Deep North (324). The video begins by showing a map titled, “Basho’s Journey,” and is followed by simple scenes such as a Japanese woman combing her hair. This image is coupled with the lines, “wrapping rice dumplings in bamboo leaves/ with one hand she fingers / the hair over her forehead.” The combination of the image and the poem allows readers to experience a moment of everyday life for Japanese women through two mediums, which ultimately reinforces the significance of the moment itself.

The video presents an image of a boat in the water which further demonstrates the connection to Basho’s journey. A picture of a snowy hilltop is coupled with the lines, “with an air of a century past / the fallen leaves on the garden,” and the combination of the landscape and the poetry seems to signify a change in seasons. A progression through both time and space is noted throughout the video as the images of boats in the water suggest the progression of Basho’s journey, while the poetry and images depicting seasonal landscapes demonstrate the passage of time. An image of people carrying things along the shoreline and the subsequent lines, “The sweet spring night / of cherry blossom viewing / has ended” suggest that the seasons are again changing, and there appears to be a sense of something significant coming to an end. The lines, “on a withered branch / a crow has settled- / autumn night fall,” paired with an image of a trail suggest yet another change in seasons, and the word “settled” seems to imply that the journey has ended.

The selected lines of poetry paired with the images produces a heightened awareness of the cyclical nature of both Basho’s physical journey and the natural world around him. The lines of poetry suggest Basho’s contemplative thoughts as he continues on his journey, while the changing of seasons implies a passage of time, and the intermittent images of boats and water remind the viewer of the progression of the journey.

Works Cited

Basho, Matsuo. The Narrow Road to the Deep North.  The Norton Anthology of World Literature.

Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. I. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2013. 325-336. Print.

Sabaczo, Raul Santiago. "Mashuo Basho." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 09 Apr. 2010. Web. 08

               

                June 2013.