http://www.mindpickings.org/2014/11/
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Early Life Yosa was born at Kema in Settsu (suburb of Osaka) in 1716 and was known as a Japanese painter and one of the great Haiku poets. His parents died when he was young and he traveled extensively in northeastern Japan and studied haiku under several masters. Yosa, like Basho, took a long journey throughout all of Honshu to record his work and formulate various poems from it.
In 1751 Yosa settled in Kyoto as a professional painter staying there for most of his life but he also spent three years in Yosa which was a region noted for its scenic beauty and there he worked intensively to improve his technique in both poetry and painting. He urged a revival of the tradition of his great predecessor, Matsuo Basho, but never reached the level of humanistic understanding attained by Basho. |
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Yosa’s haiku poems show a more objective, pictorial style than Basho's humane, wide-ranging work. Buson’s poetry, perhaps reflecting his interest in painting, is ornate and sensuous, rich in visual detail. He urged, and he declared that in haiku “one must talk poetry.” To Buson this required not only an accurate ear and an experienced eye but also intimacy with Chinese and Japanese classics. He became famous both as a poet of haikai (ancestor of modern haiku) and haiga (haikai painting). Buson produced 2,918 haiku poems, including 7 supplements and painted 124 haiga paintings and 577 Japanese style paintings in his lifetime.
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Yosa Buson's Work |
Over-ripe sushi, Blowing from the west Ploughing the land--
The Master Fallen leaves gather not even a bird singing Is full of regret. In the east. in the mountain's shadow. |