Japanese Classical Poetry. Masters of Haiku School of Bashō

Japanese classical poetry has gifted the world unique poetic forms — haiku and tanka. Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), a wandering poet and recognized master of three-line verses, managed to transform fleeting observations into profound experiences. His poems, which have become a national treasure of Japan, today resonate in dozens of languages. Haiku demands utmost precision in words: in just a few lines, Bashō opens an entire world — the silence of early morning, the breath of nature, and the fragility of human life. Around the poet formed a school that gave Japanese culture new haiku masters — including Yosa Buson and Kobayashi Issa.
This book includes the best haiku of Bashō and his disciples in the classic translations of V. N. Markova. The edition is complemented by colored engravings by Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and other artists, conveying the atmosphere of old Japan.