Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/381

  

[Kyoraishō]&emsp;by Mukai Kyorai



[One of the ideals of the haiku ''was to have each word indispensable and inalterable, no doubt a product of the brevity of the form. In the following conversation a critic suggests that the wording of a poem by Bashō might have been changed.'']

Bashō

The Master said, “Shōhaku criticized this poem on the grounds that I might just as well have said “Tamba” instead of “Ōmi,” or