Basho was lonely

I read that Basho, the Japanese poet, was quite lonely: "The more famous and wealthy Basho became, the more dissatisfied he was. He was lonely and depressed..."

And his writing reflected this as well:

I feel lonely as I gaze at the moon, I feel lonely as I think about myself, and I feel lonely as I ponder upon this wretched life of mine. I want to cry out that I am lonely, but no one asks me how I feel.

You'd think that even though he had hardships, all the students and fame and acquaintences would help his loneliness, but that wasn't the case. And he became successful from his writing, but it didn't seem to help. What was his deal?


onlyalonelygirl said...

Perhaps he was just feeling like no one cares about what's going with him. I know the feeling. I moved to a different state a couple of years ago and hardly anyone - both family and longtime friends - ever calls me. And I'm frankly tired of being the one to make the effort...BTW I love language too and I like Basho's haikus.

mj said...

He was famous but felt lonely, probably cuz no one really appreciated him deeply and sincerely--who knows.

But it happens a lot--life changes for people and they don't keep in touch--it's very annoying. I seem to also make an effort to keep in touch with people, even within the same city. But I'm sure you'll meet a lot of people where you are--it takes time.

Thanks for visiting!