Matsuo Bashō

1644–1694 · Japan

Turned haiku from a party game into a spiritual instrument.

Bashō abandoned a settled teaching career for long walking journeys across Japan, recording them in prose-and-verse travel diaries such as The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

He taught that a poem should record a moment of perception with no interference from the poet's ego.

Style

Seventeen sound-units arranged 5-7-5, with a seasonal reference.
A cutting word that creates a pause and juxtaposes two images.
Total absence of explanatory commentary.