The Sea Darkens by Matsuo Bashō
"The Sea Darkens" is a haiku by the renowned Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, composed during a pivotal period in his career as he sought to define his unique poetic voice. This poem is notable for its distinctive 5-5-7 syllable structure, which can be appreciated through the original Japanese text. Written during one of Bashō’s extensive travels along the seacoast, it appears in his travel journal "Nozarashi kikō," published in 1687. The haiku employs synesthesia, a literary device that allows one sensory experience to evoke another; in this case, the sound of wild ducks is described as a color, emphasizing the interplay between sound and visual imagery. The poem captures a moment of cosmic stillness, with the darkening sea serving as a backdrop to the faint cries of the ducks, evoking feelings of solitude and interconnectedness within nature. Bashō’s work is often celebrated for its ability to convey profound insights through simplicity, making "The Sea Darkens" a significant piece in the realm of haiku. This poem exemplifies the depth and complexity that can be encapsulated in a brief verse, inviting readers to explore the layers of meaning within its concise form.
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The Sea Darkens by Matsuo Bashō
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: “Umi kurete,” c. 1685 (collected in Bashō’s Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Bashō, 2004
Type of work: Poem
The Work
“The Sea Darkens” belongs to a period of Bashō’s career in which he was searching for his unique identity as a poet. Most critics agree that he reached at this stage a peak level in the composition of haiku. To see how the poem distributes the seventeen syllables among the lines in a 5-5-7 (irregular) pattern, it is necessary to look at the Japanese words:
5
Bashō wrote this haiku on the first of his four long journeys. The poem, written on a day spent on the seacoast, appeared in a travel journal of that trip, Nozarashi kikō (1687; The Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton, 1966), in 1687.
Bashō uses synesthesia as a significant convention in this poem. Synesthesia refers to one sense being described in terms of another. Thus, the sound of the duck is described as being a color, white. The cosmic loneliness, or stillness, amid the approaching darkness is broken by the sounds of the ducks flying overhead and is interpreted as “seeing white,” so to speak, rather than as “hearing sound.” Thus, a vision of the ultimate interrelatedness of all things and events in the universe is captured in this tiny poem.
Bibliography
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