HAIKU for YOU
Sample Haiku
Adapted from: "HAIKU for PEOPLE!"by meister_z
Haiku is one of the most important forms of traditional Japanese poetry. Haiku is, today, a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. Since the early days, there has been confusion between the three related terms Haiku, Hokku and Haikai. The term hokku literally means "starting verse", and was the first starting link of a much longer chain of verses known as haika. Because the hokku set the tone for the rest of the poetic chain, it enjoyed a privileged position in haikai poetry, and it was not uncommon for a poet Contentsompose a hokku by itself without following up with the rest of the chain.
Largely through the efforts of Masaoka Shiki, this independence was formally established in the 1890s through the creation of the term haiku. This new form of poetry was to be written, read and understood as an independent poem, complete in itself, rather than part of a longer chain.
Strictly speaking, then, the history of haiku begins only in the last years of the 19th century. The famous verses of such Edo-period (1600-1868) masters asBasho, Yosa Buson, and Kobayashi Issa are properly referred to as hokku and must be placed in the perspective of the history of haikai even though they are now generally read as independent haiku. In this document, both terms will be treated equally. The distinction between hokku and haiku can be handled by using the terms Classical Haiku and Modern Haiku, respectively.
The history of the modern haiku dates from Masaoka Shiki's reform, begun in 1892, which established haiku as a new independent poetic form. Shiki's reform did not change two traditional elements of haiku: the division of 17 syllables into three groups of 5, 7, and 5 syllables and the inclusion of a kigo, or seasonal theme.
Kawahigashi HekigoContentsarried Shiki's reform further with two proposals:
In the late 1930s Japan prepared for war beyond the on-going Sino-Japanese conflict. The government demanded that haiku poets actively support the war effort, and in 1940, 12 members of the politically liberal Kyoto University haiku association were arrested for their refusal Contentsooperate!
In Japanese, the rules for how to write Haiku are clear, and will not be discussed here. In foreign languages, there exist NO consensus in how to write Haiku poems. Anyway, let's take a look at the basic knowledge:
What to Write About? Haiku poems can describe almost anything in which there is an ultimate relation to a universal Truth or element of Nature or Man's own nature. Yet, you seldom find themes which are too complicated for the normal reader's recognition and understanding. Some of the most thrilling Haiku poems describe daily situations found in Nature or the Universe in a way that gives the reader a brand new experience of a well-known situation. This link to the Natural Entities of our surroundings can additionally be used to "depict" an ordinary everyday EXPERIENCE, wherein the beauty and depth of the natural surroundings are fused into the emotional or internal human reactions or states of mind. The Metrical Pattern of Haiku Haiku poems consist of respectively 5, 7 and 5 syllables in three lines. In Japanese, this convention is a must, but in English, which has variation in the length of syllables, this can sometimes be difficult, but this is precisely what makes composing Haiku (in English) more interesting, challenging, fun, and meaningful, and artistic when it is well done. The Technique of "Cutting" The cutting divides the Haiku into two parts, with a certain imaginative distance between the two sections, but the two sections must remain, to a degree, independent of each other. Both sections must enrich the understanding of the other. To make this cutting in English, either the first or the second line ends normally with a dash, comma, semi-colon, or ellipsis [i.e., "..."]. The Kigo (Seasonal Theme) Each Haiku must contain a kigo, a season word, which indicate in which season the Haiku is set. For example, cherry blossoms indicate spring, snow indicate winter, and mosquitoes indicate summer, but the season word (KIGO) isn't always that obvious nor oversimplified. [ALLUSION or implied knowledge of the kigo (season) involved is much more useful and a legitimate artistic (haiku) tool for the haiku-poet, especially when you are reduced to only such few syllables (onji) -- meister_z]. Please notice that Haiku poems are written under different rules and in many languages. For translated Haiku poems, the translator must decide whether he should obey the rules strictly, or if he should present the exact essence of the Haiku. For Haiku poems originally written in English, the poet should be more careful. These are the difficulties, and the pleasure of Haiku. [To KIGO]
Haiku poems can describe almost anything in which there is an ultimate relation to a universal Truth or element of Nature or Man's own nature. Yet, you seldom find themes which are too complicated for the normal reader's recognition and understanding. Some of the most thrilling Haiku poems describe daily situations found in Nature or the Universe in a way that gives the reader a brand new experience of a well-known situation. This link to the Natural Entities of our surroundings can additionally be used to "depict" an ordinary everyday EXPERIENCE, wherein the beauty and depth of the natural surroundings are fused into the emotional or internal human reactions or states of mind.
Haiku poems consist of respectively 5, 7 and 5 syllables in three lines. In Japanese, this convention is a must, but in English, which has variation in the length of syllables, this can sometimes be difficult, but this is precisely what makes composing Haiku (in English) more interesting, challenging, fun, and meaningful, and artistic when it is well done.
The cutting divides the Haiku into two parts, with a certain imaginative distance between the two sections, but the two sections must remain, to a degree, independent of each other. Both sections must enrich the understanding of the other.
To make this cutting in English, either the first or the second line ends normally with a dash, comma, semi-colon, or ellipsis [i.e., "..."].
Each Haiku must contain a kigo, a season word, which indicate in which season the Haiku is set. For example, cherry blossoms indicate spring, snow indicate winter, and mosquitoes indicate summer, but the season word (KIGO) isn't always that obvious nor oversimplified. [ALLUSION or implied knowledge of the kigo (season) involved is much more useful and a legitimate artistic (haiku) tool for the haiku-poet, especially when you are reduced to only such few syllables (onji) -- meister_z].
Please notice that Haiku poems are written under different rules and in many languages. For translated Haiku poems, the translator must decide whether he should obey the rules strictly, or if he should present the exact essence of the Haiku. For Haiku poems originally written in English, the poet should be more careful. These are the difficulties, and the pleasure of Haiku. [To KIGO]
The name Bashó (banana tree) is a sobriquet he adopted around 1681 after moving into a hut with a banana tree alongside. He was called Kinsaku in childhood and Matsuo Munefusa in his later days.
Basho's father was a low-ranking samurai from the Iga Province. To be a samurai, Basho serviced for the local lord Todo Yoshitada (Sengin). Since Yoshitada was fond of writing haikai, Basho began writing poetry under the name Sobo.
During the years, Basho made many travels through Japan, and one of the most famous went to the north, where he wrote Oku no hosomichi (1694). On his last trip, he died in Osaka, and his last haiku indicates that he was still thinking of traveling and writing poetry as he lay dying:
Fallen sick on a journey, In dreams I run wildly Over a withered moor.
In dreams I run wildly
Over a withered moor.
[At the time of his death, Basho had more than 2000 students.]
A better translation and INTERPRETATION of this haiku would perhaps be:
Tabi ni yande On a journey, ailing -- Yume wa kareno o My dreams roam about Kakemeguru Over a withered moor.
Interpreted by Stephen Kohl, I much prefer and legitimize this version... [meister_z]
A frog jumps in --
The sound of water.
Enough to bend the leaves
Of the jonquil low.
No sign can foretell,
How soon it must die.
Along this way but I,
This autumn evening.
there is one thing not hidden --
the bridge at Seta Bay.
thoughts and loneliness;
the autumn dusk is here.
and bring to men a chance to rest,
from looking at the moon.
around the pond I wander
and the night is gone.
he starts to grind the rice,
and gazes at the moon.
and he is drinking sake
all alone!
loneliness -- just one leaf
from the kiri tree.
the fragrant blossoms remain;
a perfect evening!
The Master
Is full of regret.
After a while,
A lonely feeling
Down it goes, and more and more
up goes its tail.
instantly I'd like to die
in this dream of ours.
no earth -- but still,
snowflakes fall
which I forsook, the cherries
are in bloom.
that way, this way, that way, this --
and it passes by.
and when did you get here,
snail?
if only she were here --
This moon tonight...
through the paper window's hole,
the Galaxy.
also a fly, just one --
in the huge drawing room.
and naked I am riding
on a naked horse.
and realize my three children,
have been watching.
I throw water into the lake --
slight muddiness appears.
my neighbor playing on his flute --
out of tune.
the mirror I stare into
shows my father's face.
are united, they both vanish --
a lotus blooms.
Soseki's debut came in 1905 with "I am a Cat". In 1907 he resigned his post at Tokyo University as Professor in English, to devote his entire time to the writing of novels. His writings include "The Three-Cornered World" (1906), "The Wayfarer" (1912-13), "Kokoro" (1914), and "The Grass on the Wayside" (1915).
I long to meet my parents,
as they were before my birth.
swaying in the evening sun,
a leafless tree.
the only things not muddy
are the songs you sing.
is the moon also sleeping --
there, in the pool?
swat the flies,
softly, please.
a spider, how lonely I feel --
in the cold of night.
I swat a fly and offer it,
to an ant.
under the piled-up snow,
the sound of water.
the while I wait for you,
cold wind turns into rain.
although there is a bridge,
my horse goes through the water.
between the forest trees,
I have seen water.
and yet, isn't there still something,
remaining in it?
and I say a word --
autumn is deepening.
ask them which leaf on the tree,
will be next to go.
I hurl into the darkness,
and feel the depth of night.
Akutagawa wrote "Rashomon," "The Nose," "The Handkerchief," "Hell Screen," "Flatcar," and "Kappa". He didn't start writing Haiku before 1919, under the pseudonym Gaki.
Is your body also
freshly painted?
glimpse of cherry blossoms,
Still shivering.
how to enjoy lovely
cherry blossoms?
- Makoto Ueda (Modern Japanese Haiku -- An Anthology: 1976).
- Kodansha (Encyclopedia of Japan: 1983).
- Kenneth Yasuda (The Japanese HAIKU: 1957).
- Harold G. Henderson (An introduction to HAIKU: 1958).
- Daniel C. Buchanan (One hundred Famous HAIKU: 1973).
Original Editor: Kei Grieg Toyomasu kei@toyomasu.com
Adapted Here by meister_z
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