The summer grass Flashcards
by Matsuo Basho — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: The summer grass
What is the kireji (cutting word) in this haiku, and what effect does it create?
The particle "ya" after "natsukusa" (summer grass) is the kireji. It creates a dramatic pause that separates the immediate image of summer grass from the reflection on warriors' dreams, forcing the reader to juxtapose both halves simultaneously.
What is the kigo (seasonal word) in this haiku?
"Natsukusa" (summer grass) is the kigo, placing the poem in summer. Basho transformed this word from its traditional association with fertility into one linked with the impermanence of human ambitions.
What literary technique does Basho use by echoing Du Fu's poem about ruined cities and growing grass?
Honkadori (allusive variation) -- Basho alludes to Du Fu's couplet "The country is ruined; mountains and rivers remain" to add layers of classical resonance to his haiku.
What type of juxtaposition structures this haiku?
The haiku juxtaposes the enduring, cyclical vitality of nature (summer grass) against the transience of human power and ambition (warriors' dreams), creating a contrast between permanence and impermanence.
What Japanese aesthetic concept does this haiku exemplify through its bittersweet awareness of passing things?
Mono no aware -- the poignant awareness of impermanence and the gentle sadness that comes from recognizing the transience of all things.
What does the summer grass symbolize in this haiku?
The summer grass represents both nature's constancy and the erasure of human achievement. Scholar Haruo Shirane notes it is simultaneously the rich grass of the present and the blood-stained grass of the past.
What Buddhist concept underlies the poem's meditation on warriors' vanished glory?
Shogyo mujo -- the impermanence of all things. No matter how fierce the battles or grand the ambitions, time reduces everything to silence and grass.
How does the poem treat the relationship between nature and human civilization?
Nature outlasts and reclaims the works of human civilization. The warriors' power and glory have vanished entirely, while the summer grass continues its annual cycle of growth undisturbed.
What does "tsuwamonodomo" mean in the original Japanese?
Tsuwamonodomo means "warriors" or "soldiers" -- specifically brave, powerful warriors. The word carries connotations of martial strength and valor.
What does "yume no ato" literally mean?
Yume no ato literally means "traces of dreams" or "aftermath of dreams." "Yume" (dream) suggests both ambitions and insubstantiality; "ato" means traces, remains, or ruins.
Complete the haiku: "The summer grass! / 'Tis all that's left / ..."
"Of ancient warriors' dreams." (Inazo Nitobe translation, 1900)