隠喩としての芭蕉の旅——『奥の細道』冒頭部をめぐって

Bashō's Travels as a Metaphor——On the Opening Lines of The Narrow Road to the Deep North

芭蕉の紀行文『奥の細道』の冒頭数行は「、人生は旅」という作者の感懐を述べた流麗な名文とされている。だが詳しく検討してみると、ここにはそれぞれに意味合いを異にする「旅」や「旅人」の比喩が次々と繰り出され、文と文の間に大きな飛躍が仕組まれることで、表現に強力なインパクトが付与されていることがわかる。わずか三センテンス強の『細道』冒頭部に現われる比喩の含意を確かめながら、芭蕉の真意を探ってみたい。

The haiku poet Basho had a remarkable fascination with travels. On top of a number of excellent haiku composed both during and about his journeys, he left seminal travel writings such as The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Why was he so obsessed by the notion of＂setting out on a journey＇？ What significance did it have in his life？ This article makes an attempt to examine how Basho represents journeys through various metaphors in the opening sentences of The Narrow Road to the Deep North.