Haiku

Theory and Poems

The Haiku Experience

Very difficult to call it "poetry," in reality, HAIKU is simply "haiku." It is an Art. It is a way which leads to the expression of the Internal Experience based on the wonders and colors and aromas of Nature. It is a Literary form of expression. Haiku is the depicting (the sheisu) of an Internal EXPERIENCE, based on the sensorial and spiritual perception AND appreciation of an immediate experience -- be it objective or subjective, external within the realm of Nature, or internal within the human vision of the mind and spirit. It is a means for the bodily senses, the mind, the Spirit, and even the Human Soul to be able to transcend the material and concrete dimension of life, and to be able to interpret and experience contact with Nature and its Universal Truths in a unique and entirely different manner. In other words, it is a means for the manifestation of the unseen and Occidentally and foolishly denied non-material entities and dimensions of the Human Being.

[Body+Senses+Mind+Spirit+Soul+Sensitivity =
Direct Sensation+Perception+Detachment+Exaltation+Communion
-----> (the) Haiku Experience]

                           ACQUIRING  HAIKU
                  _______________     _________________
                  Occidental Mind     Oriental Thought 
                  ---------------     -----------------
                  Surface Value        Penetration
                  the Shell            the Content
                  the Concrete         the Abstract
                  the Superficial      the Profound
                  Material Attachment  Material Detachment
                  Structure and Form   Essence and Flow
                  Rationalization      Truth
                  the Body             the Soul
                  the Brain            the Mind
                  the Carcass          the Spirit
                  the World            the Universe
                  the Earth            the Cosmos


                           THE HAIKU EXPERIENCE
               _____________________________________________
              |  |                 |                      | |
              |  |  Body           |     Direct Sensation | |   
        Occidental:                |                      |---> "Poetry"
     The West |  |  Senses         |     Perception       | |  [Only
              |  |________________________________________| |   Sensorial]
              |                    |                        |
Oriental:     |     Mind           |     Interpretation     |
[All of these]|                    |                        |
              |     Spirit         |     Detachment         |
              |                    |                        |--->  haiku
              |     Soul           |     Exaltation         |  [The haiku
              |                    |                        |  Experience]
              |     Sensitivity    |     Communion          |
              |_____________________________________________|
 
           Remaining at the surface will never take you to
                the Discovery and Knowledge of Truth.

   As seen above, the Western mind associates only at the concrete level.
   The Classical-Traditional Oriental  mind associates further than that.

   
                               [jzr -- meister_z   Enterprises]
                                       April 9, 2000.     

Index

• GENERAL POETIC THEORY and STUDY

• • Historical Overview
  • 1. Form
    2. Lines
    3. Stanzas
    4. Rhyme
    5. Rhythm
    6. Euphony
  • 
    
  • Poetic Devices
  • Types of Poetry
  • 1. Narrative
    2. Lyric (Descriptive)
    3. Humorous
    4. (Parody)
  • 
    
  • FORMS of Poetry
  • 1. Limerick
    2. Haiku
    3. Ballad

• 
  
• IN-DEPTH DEFINITIONS and STRUCTURE of HAIKU (Study-Learning Compendium)
• 1. Tanka (Background)
  2. Haiku (Background)
  3. Haiku (Definition)
  4. Haiku (Another Definition)
  5. Haiku (Yet Other Definitions)
  6. The Classical Masters
• 
  
• BASHO -- the CREATOR and MASTER of HAIKU (Extensive Biography)
• 
  
• KIGO -- SEASON Words (Lists [kiose])
• 
  
• SANTOKA -- Another Important Master
• 
  
• (Masaoka) SHIKI -- CRUCIAL REVOLUTIONARY INNOVATOR of HAIKU
• 
  
• SHIKI'S SHASEI ("PAINTINGS")
• 
  
• (Simplified-Modernist) View of HAIKU TODAY with SAMPLE HAIKU of the CLASSICAL MASTERS
• 
  
• Kobayashi ISSA and his HAIKU (Another Master Worth Reading)
• 
  
• OGURA HYAKUNIN ISSHA100 POEMS by 100 POETS (with Original Japanese Poems, Transliterations, and Interpreted English Equivalents).

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Sources and Credits:

I would like at this point to acknowledge the following Sources in legitimacy of their authorship and Copyright and in appreciation for the availability of the information and articles used here totally for didactic and academic purposes. My own Comments and views have swayed the original contents at times, for the purposes of teaching and instruction on this meister_z web site, but an attempt to keep them intact was forcefully made.

• http://www2.ori.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~dhugal/haikuhome.html
• http://www.cc.matsuyama-u.ac.jp/~kametaro/index.html
• http://mikan.cc.matsuyama-u.ac.jp/~shiki/
• http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/index.html
• http://darkwing.uorgon.edu/~kohl/basho/b_life.html
• http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/
• http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/gregpass/issa.html

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