Way of Poetry

My way –
no-one on the road
and it’s autumn, getting dark

His "Way of Poetry," the path he had chosen for his life, was an absolute commitment to seeking religious enlightenment through working at haiku, and he wanted his disciples to understand that the finest form of it had a spirit of "lightness."

Basho died over 300 years ago, on the road, in a remote part of the country, in autumn. He lay ill with stomach pains for several days, and his admirers came from far and wide to see him. One of his disciples took down his last poem, which in Japanese tradition is important as the "death poem."

Ill on my journey –
dreams roam
parched moors

Click here for more about Basho and learning Haiku