“The Narrow Road to the Deep North” is a novel that falls into the category of travel literature written by Matsuo Basho, a Japanese poet and author who lived during the 17th century. The novel follows Basho as he travels from Edo, present-day Tokyo, to the northern provinces of Japan. In the journal, the author documents his daily life and the people he interacts with, creates in-depth descriptions of the world around him, and of course, writes poetry. During his pilgrimage, Basho composed haiku poetry, "a form of poetry composed of 17 syllables divided into three sections of five-seven-five." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Haiku poems are generally very descriptive and focus heavily on nature. Nature is actually a theme that comes up several times in the book; In fact, Basho uses elements found in nature as well as nature itself as a motif in order to help the reader understand how he perceives the world and the role nature plays in it. Basho, through the use of natural elements as motifs, highlights the differences between human beings and nature; Humans are mortal and ephemeral creatures that contradict the permanent and immortal essence of nature. Basho explores this using pine trees, rivers and rocks as motifs. The immortality of nature and the mortality of humans are demonstrated by comparing humans and their creations to immortal nature; for example on page 118 the author visits the village of Hiraizumi, where the Fujiwara family estate resided, he writes the following "It is here that the glory of the Fujiwara family died out like a fragment of a meaningless dream. . . when a country is defeated, only mountains and rivers remain, and on a ruined castle, only grass grows.” In this passage, there is a direct comparison between ephemeral and fleeting human lives and their creations which eventually collapse, no matter how great they may be, and nature's permanent and ever-flourishing nature. The simile “like a fragment of an empty dream” further emphasizes the fragility and uselessness of humanity by comparing it to a fragment of a meaningless dream. On the other hand, the brute force and timelessness of nature are not only evidenced by the fact that it prevails among the ruins; in fact, on page 118, the quote "Mount Kinkei alone has retained its original form" using the mountain, again as a motif, basho implies that nature is not only immortal and simply completely superior to humans, but that it can also literally erase any imprint. of humanity. Other significant examples that function similarly in "The Narrow Road to the Far North" include the following. On page 104, Basho mentions the hermitage of Priest Buccho: “The temple was located on the side of a mountain completely covered with cedars and dark pines. . . Even the woodpeckers have left it intact, This little chalet In a summer furrow.” This extract has similar connotations to that on page 118, according to which the priest is dead but nature, that is to say the mountain and the trees, elements which are repeated in the novel and therefore used as motifs, lives ; the only difference here is that a man-made creation, the cabin, still exists. A more direct expression of the permanence of nature is manifested through the use of pine trees, rocks and mountains when Basho writes on page 122: "The entire mountain was made of massive materials." rocks assembled and covered with centuries-old pines and oaks. The stony ground itself had the.