Monday, August 07, 2006

Haiku by Basho - It Ain't that Good

I really get turned off when people refer to the "great masters" of anything. As if one could call someone a master of anything that has to with poetry or any art. In art, you either like something or you don't. Period.

Basho is the Japanese poet who is credited for coming up with the haiku genre. And if you're read any of his poems, you may have come to the same conclusion as me which is that you just don't like it that much.
For example take this poem by "the master:"

Lead my pony
across this wide moor
to where the cuckoo sings

As far as haiku goes, it's OK. But I just don't get the wow factor so many people attribute to him. Am I wrong?

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