Book Synopsis
WITHERED GRASS is a translation and commentary of selected poem and prose excerpts written by the 17th century Japanese wordsmith Bashō. Most of the selections are from The Narrow Road To The Deep North (Oku No Hosomichi). Two versions of Japanese, ideograms and romanization, with an English translation are presented. The ideograms or characters of Japanese (like their Chinese counterparts) are representational. Our alphabet is symbolic. Including both versions of the poem provides some depth of understanding. A brief explication of selected kanji, a glossary, and source notes complete the work.