On a long, narrow sheet of paper known as an ōtanzaku, Bashō places in the upper right the heading “Zayūmei” (lit. “motto at one’s side,” words to live by), followed by the widely celebrated poem “Mono ieba / kuchibiru samushi / aki no kaze” (When I speak / my lips are chilled / by the autumn wind), a representative verse from his later years.

In Matsuo Bashō shū 1 (Matsuo Bashō anthology, vol. 1), the poem is listed among the examples of its known textual forms, beginning with its appearance in early haikai anthologies such as Bashō-an kobunko. The volume identifies two kaishi sheets, one copy of an autograph, and three ōtanzaku as extant examples; the present work is one of those three ōtanzaku. Bashō zenzufu, a photographic compendium of Bashō’s authentic calligraphy, reproduces the two kaishi and two ōtanzaku (including the present piece). The remaining ōtanzaku appears only as a reference image because its original has not been confirmed. Both publications thus present a consistent account of the surviving autograph examples of this poem.

The character “唑” is somewhat unfamiliar, yet writing the “人” part of “坐” as “口” is occasionally observed; perhaps from there a brushstroke incorporating the mouth radical emerged. Here an intriguing correspondence may be sensed with the text of the poem itself, which concerns speaking and lips—matters deeply connected to the mouth. In any case, the intended sense is that of “motto kept at one’s side,” and other autograph examples of this poem include similar prefatory notes, such as “… I write this to keep by my side in my hut,” indicating that Bashō regarded the verse as something to hold in daily reflection.

In Bashō-an kobunko, compiled by Nakamura Fumikuni—one of Bashō’s disciples—and published in Genroku 9 (1696), the poem appears with a self-admonitory preface: “Speak not of others’ faults; proclaim not one’s own strengths,” a wording that reinforces the verse’s self-admonitory tone. The source of this preface and poem form is thought to have been a narrow hanging scroll in the possession of Mukai Kyorai, one of Bashō’s leading disciples and a close associate of Fumikuni (headnotes in Matsuo Bashō shū 1).

An anecdote concerning this narrow hanging scroll appears in Wakan bunsō, compiled by Kagami Shikō—another of Bashō’s disciples, counted among the Ten Chief Disciples of the Bashō school (Shōmon jittetsu), as Kyorai—and published in Kyōhō 12 (1727). It recounts that a hashira kakushi (lit. pillar-cover; narrow hanging scroll) once adorning Bashō-an (Bashō’s hut in Fukagawa, Edo) was given to Kyorai, who later brought it back to Kyoto and hung it in his own hermitage, the Rakushisha. Shikō praises it as “a one-line work of the venerable master; examples of this kind must be rare,” indicating that even in the time of Kyorai and Shikō—both deeply familiar with Bashō—such vertically expansive one-line calligraphic works by the poet were already highly esteemed. Along with the fact that Bashō kept this verse as a personal motto, the importance of this piece becomes evident.

Matsuo Bashō (haiku poet; 1644–1694)
A native of Iga Province (today Mie Prefecture), Bashō initially served his local feudal lord but in 1666 abandoned his warrior status and moved to Edo. He first mastered the Teimon style and then the Danrin style of haikai poetry, but eventually left the urban poetry circles. Elevating the status of the hokku (starting verse of a linked verse session, now known as haiku), Bashō established his own Shōfū style. Many of his works reflect is his travels in rural or remote areas.