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Japan's celebrated Buddhist poet balances the smallness of humanity with nature's epic drama in these magical seventeenth-century haikus.

About the Author

Matsuo Basho, the Japanese poet and diarist, was born in Iga-ueno near Kyoto in 1644. He began to write verse while studying as the companion of the son of the local lord, and continued to write when he moved to Edo (now Tokyo) in 1667. He eventually became a recluse, and on his travels relied on the hospitality of temples and fellow poets. His work was much influenced by Zen Buddhism.