'It was with awe That I beheld Fresh leaves green leaves Bright in the sun' In his perfectly
crafted haiku poems Basho described the natural world with great simplicity and delicacy of
feeling. When he composed The Narrow Road to the Deep North he was an ardent student of Zen
Buddhism setting off on a series of travels designed to strip away the trappings of the
material world and bring spiritual enlightenment. He wrote of the seasons changin of the
smells of the rain the brightness of the moon and beauty of the waterfall through which he
sense mysteries of the universe. There s seventeenth-century travel writing not only chronicle
Basho's perilous journeys through Japan but they also capture his vision of eternity in the
transient world around him. In his lucid translation Nobuyuki Yuasa captures the Lyrical
qualities of Basho's poetry and prose by using the natural rhythms and language of the
contemporary speech. IN his introduction heexamines the development of the haibun style in
which poetry and prose stand side by side. this edition also includes maps and notes on the
texts. For more than seventy years Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic
literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1 700 titles Penguin Classics
represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and
disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions
and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors as well as up-to-date
translations by award-winning translators.
