Basho

"Haiku, known in the West for its brevity, would be better served if valued for its spatial radiance. Andrew Fitzsimons‘ collection presents spare engaging translations with notes on literary allusion, double meanings, and autobiographical detail. These notes are not interpretations. Rather, they are gifts for your journey, should you care to accept. A uniquely wonderful anthology."—Kimiko Hahn, poet and author of Foreign Bodies "‘You must put into words the light in which you see something before that light vanishes.’ Such was the attitude out of which, phrase by phrase, Bashō’s poems were created. Before the light emitted by each phrase of each poem in Japanese disappears, Fitzsimons carries it across into English. Bashō’s Complete Haiku is an extraordinary achievement."—Takahashi Mutsuo, poet and author of Twelve Views from the Distance "A breath of fresh air in the middle of a chaotic world. Fitzsimons has done a beautiful job showing the uniqueness, drama, and playfulness of Bashō‘s originals."—Jeffrey Angles, poet and translator of Killing Kanoko: Selected Poetry of Hiromi Itō and Forest of Eyes: Selected Poems of Tada Chimako "This complete set of Bashō‘s haiku, brilliantly translated and annotated by Andrew Fitzsimons, makes the poet‘s work in the context of his life understandable as it never has been before in English. This book marks a moment of huge significance in world poetry."—Bernard O’Donoghue; University of Oxford