Zen reflected through imageries and implied metaphor in Basho’s poem

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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION

This thesis begins with assumption that Haiku of Basho, has a particular relation to Zen Buddhism. Poem and philosophy are related. They have a relation of how they construct humankind. The Basho’s frog poem that is written in spring 1686, describes the frog jumped into the pond as the visual imagery. and the plup sound as the auditory imagery of water sound. This poem employs ontological metaphor when frog as metaphor for existence is moving, The existence dissapears together with the appearance of the sound. The experience of dissappearance of the existence is an enlightenment, according to Zen. The meaning of the Haiku is the experience of satori, or Zen enlightenment. This poem conveys the Zen idea of enlightenment. The prostitutes poem is made in spring 1689, when Basho took a rest in the north side of Japan. He took a rest, in the road of Oku. He saw the flowering bush clover was lightened under the moon. It was the scenery of the gentle side of Japan. The prostitues, the bush clover and the moon are the visual imagery of this poem. He felt that It was the gentle night in Japan. Close to him, there was the house of prostitutesa poem about sleeping prostitutes. The Haiku employs ontological metaphor by viewing prostitute as metaphor of existence, and the roof as a law of nature that is changes. The meaning of the Haiku is that the existence always changes. This poem is conveyed the Zen idea of impermanent nature of things. In the poem of the stormy sea, Basho wrote his experience whe he was standing on the western shores of Japan looking out upon the night sea in autumn 1689. This haiku employs visual imagery the sea, the heaven’s river, and the auditory imagery the sound of the sea. The haiku employs implied metaphors of the Heavens river as metaphors of aurora. The meaning of haiku is that mind not only cannot be attached in earth with its concepts as long as one wants to attain satori, but also cannot be attached to heaven, because in Zen, attachment is a barrier to enter enlightenment. The haiku of stormy sea conveys the Zen idea of non-attachment. In poem of cicada’s cry, At the summer 1690 Basho wrote a poem about cicada. Basho stayed in a hut near the quiet Biwa lake. This haiku employs the auditory imagery the cicada’s cry sound, and employs implied metaphor of the sign, as the appearance of the time. The time and the existence cannot be separated. The meaning of the poem is about experience of unity with nature. This experience of unity with nature is a Zen enlightenment. The Haiku conveys the Zen idea of satori. The poem of dragonfly conveys visual imagery, the dragonfly, the grass blade. Basho wrote this poem in the autumn 1690. This haiku also conveys tactile imagery which is the slippery grass blade was written when Basho came back to Ueno, after summer. He found a dragonfly flew around the village, he observed the movement of the dragonfly. This haiku employs ontological metaphors dragonfly fly around as metaphor of the dynamic mind, grass blade as the metaphor for the concept and, employs the imagery of failure grasping solid