On a Withered Branch by Matsuo Bashō
"On a Withered Branch" is a notable haiku written by the esteemed Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō during a formative period in his literary career, from 1673 to 1680. This poem exemplifies Bashō's early use of surprising comparisons and wordplay, showcasing his innovative style. The haiku presents a vivid image of a crow perched on a withered branch during an autumn evening, highlighting the contrast between the living bird and the dead tree limb. The Japanese language nuances, including play on words and a unique syllable structure, add layers of meaning that can be challenging to capture in translation. The poem's structure follows a 5-9-5 pattern, rather than the more commonly known 5-7-5 format, which reflects Bashō's creative approach. The inclusion of "season-words" like autumn not only situates the imagery in a specific time but also evokes themes of decay and loneliness. The juxtaposition of the crow against the backdrop of the darkening evening invites readers to ponder deeper existential reflections. Overall, Bashō's work encapsulates a moment of stillness and contemplation within the vastness of the universe.
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On a Withered Branch by Matsuo Bashō
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: “Kareeda ni,” c. 1673-1680 (collected in A Zen Wave: Bashō’s Haiku and Zen, 1979)
Type of work: Poem
The Work
“On a Withered Branch” is a well-known haiku written by Bashō during the developing stage of his career. During this period, from 1673 to 1680, he often used the technique of the surprising comparison. Coming fairly early in his career, the poem also contains elements characteristic of some earlier work in which the poem was intended to amuse with puns, or play on words. Both in identifying wordplay and in counting syllables, English translations can rarely render the poem satisfactorily. One must see the Japanese version to understand some of the important elements of the haiku:
Kareeda ni On a withered branch
Kareeda, translated as “withered,” is understood to be a “dead” branch, thus providing a contrast with the living bird perched upon it. The word karasu (“crow”) is the same as the transitive verb form karasu, meaning “to cause to wither” or “to kill,” thus showing some wordplay typical of Bashō’s early work. Tomari (“perched”) signifies stopping or staying, as a temporary stopover at a hotel. Keri is an example of the “cutting word”; a literal translation would be simply “crow’s perch.” There is no word for “is.” Thus, the keri leaves the relationship of the perched crow to the poem’s next line vague and impersonal. The autumn nightfall is simply juxtaposed with the preceding concept, allowing readers to make their own connections. The Japanese lines follow a 5-9-5 pattern rather than the typical 5-7-5: ka-re-e-da-ni, ka-ra-su-no-to-ma-ri-ke-ri, and a-ki-no-ku-re.
The image of the small (relative to a tree) living crow, with shiny black feathers, perched on the dead tree limb, provides an interesting contrast with the dull darkness of nightfall on an autumn evening. The darkness of the night is of a very different order of blackness from that of the bird. Another convention of the haiku, the “season-word,” is provided by the reference to autumn. Autumn, also the “fall” of the year, suggests the dying period of the year, even as the tree limb is a dead one.
All together, the images come together to evoke a certain kind of loneliness as the outline of the crow is viewed against the background of the immense universe.
Bibliography
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Campbell, Liberty. To a Far Province with Bashō. Pittsburgh, Pa.: J. Pohl Associates, 1983.
Crowley, Cheryl A. Hakai Poet Yosa Buson and the Bashō Revival. Boston: Brill, 2007.
Henderson, Harold G. An Introduction to Haiku: An Anthology of Poems and Poets from Bashō to Shiki. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1958.
Kerkham, Eleanor, ed. Matsuo Bashō’s Poetic Spaces: Exploring Haikai Intersections. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
Miner, Earl. Japanese Linked Poetry: An Account with Translations of Renga and Haikai Sequences. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1979.
Qiu, Peipei. Bashō and the Dao: The Zhuangzi and the Transformation of Haikai. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005.
Sato, Hiroaki. One Hundred Frogs: From Renga to Haiku to English. New York: Weatherhill, 1983.
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Ueda, Makoto. Zeami, Bashō, Yeats, Pound: A Study in Japanese and English Poetics. The Hague, the Netherlands: Mouton, 1965.