The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches

'It was with awe
That I beheld
Fresh leaves, green leaves,
Bright in the sun'

In his perfectly crafted haiku poems, Basho described the natural world with great simplicity and delicacy of feeling. When he composed The Narrow Road to the Deep North, he was an ardent student of Zen Buddhism, setting off on a series of travels designed to strip away the trappings of the material world and bring spiritual enlightenment. He wrote of the seasons changin, of the smells of the rain, the brightnes...