is a 1672

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

compiled by Japanese poet

Matsuo Bashō ; born , later known as was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as th ...

, in which each

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

is followed by critical commentary he made as referee for a haiku contest.Jestice, Phyllis G. (2004). ''Holy people of the world: a cross-cultural encyclopedia.'' ABC-CLIO, It is Bashō's earliest known book, and the only book he published in his own name.Ueda, Makoto (1970). ''Twayne's World Authors Series.'' Twayne PublishersUeda, Makoto (1982). ''Matsuo Bashō''. Kodansha, p148 The work contains 60 haiku by 36 poets, including two by Bashō himself.Ueda, Makoto (1992). ''Bashō and his Interpreters''. Stanford University Press, p29 The format is based on a

children's game This is a list of games that are played by children. Traditional children's games do not include commercial products such as board games but do include games which require props such as hopscotch or marbles (toys go in List of toys unless the t ...

where two seashells were placed side by side and compared. Bashō compares pairs of haiku by different authors in the same manner in the book. According to scholar Sam Hamill, ''The Seashell Game'' shows Bashō "to be witty, deeply knowledgeable, and rather light-hearted."Hamill, Sam (2008). ''A poet's work: the other side of poetry.'' Carnegie Mellon University Press,

Example

Bashō compares the following pair of verses on the topic of colourful autumn leaves: :How like it is to :A midwife's right hand– :Crimson maple leaf! :—''Sanboku'' :"I haven't crimsoned. :Come and look!" So says the dew :On an oak branch :—''Dasoku'' In his commentary, Bashō declares that the first poem "ranks thousands of leagues" above the second.

References

Edo-period works Japanese poetry collections Literary criticism Articles containing Japanese poems Haiku Works by Matsuo Bashō {{poetry-collection-stub