On Mondays this column will feature several very short poems. Today we'll start this series with a sampler of the ultimate in short poetry, the haiku.
The word "haiku" is a relatively new invention which came into vogue in the 20th century. Before that it was known as "hokku," which means "starting verse." Originally the hokku was the first part of a two-part stanza called the haikai (it is by combining these two words that modern critics coined the term "haiku"), which means "unusual" or "offbeat." Haikai was a social activity, similar to some drinking songs or the hoedown at the end of "Who's Line Is It Anyway?," in which the participants each improvise a verse of a collective poem. The resulting haikai-no-renga poems were often hilarious and scatological, and the style was a popular alternative to the austere formality of the waka/tanka poems of the Court nobility, or the powerful Shoguns. Around the end of the 17th century, Basho and his followers began to take the hokku section on its own, and turned it into something entirely its own, which retained some of the wit and surprise of the haikai poems, but took on a new sensitivity and gravity.
Everyone knows the haiku form, which in its traditional form is a single poem of 17 syllables, typically divided into three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively. Additionally, strict tradition demands that the poem be on the subject of nature and contains a seasonal reference word, or kigo, to establish a context in the time of year. This could be the actual name of a season, or something more subtle, like a mention of birds' nests to indicate late spring/early summer. And, almost uniquely among poetic forms, traditional haiku is impervious to revision. The poem is to be written at the moment of inspiration, without conscious filtering, and once committed to paper is indelible, not to be changed.
These are fairly stringent requirements by the standards of modern poetry, and there are many things on the internet and off that ignore some or all of the rules and call themselves haiku. I will not disagree, but I will note that there is another relatively new word that was created specifically to address this new breed of poems that do not contain 17 syllables, or present kigo, or address a subject other than nature, or use the first person. The word is "senryu," and it generally connotes more comic verse, but traditionalists will apply it to anything that doesn't meet the above criteria.
I'll devote this column to a selection of traditional period haiku (or rather, hokku) poems. Future columns will address other traditional zen forms, as well as senryu, tanka and others. Attention will also be paid to Western short forms and short poems. But for now, here are some haiku. Keep in mind that translators of Japanese verse often ignore the 17 syllable rule in pursuit of representing the image in a way that is as sharp and beautiful in English as in the original form.
Green willows
paint eyebrows on the face
of the cliff
- Arakida Moritake (1472-1549), trans. Cheryl Crowley
What a beautiful moon! It casts
the shadow of pine boughs upon the mats.
- Takarai Kikaku (1661-1707), trans. Asatoro Miyamori
Under the rainclouds
The plum blossoms seem like stars
Despite the daylight
- Uejima Onitsura (1661-1738), trans. Cheryl Crowley
Even after waking
From the dream
I'll see the colors of irises.
- Ogawa Shushiki (1669-1725), trans. Alex Kerr
The evening breezes -
The water splashes against
A blue heron's shins.
- Yosa Buson (1716-1783), trans. Donald Keene
Under cherry trees
there are
no strangers
- Kobayashi Issa (1763-1867), trans. Lucien Stryk
The tree cut,
dawn breaks early
at my little window.
- Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), trans. Janine Beichman
Tomorrow, something modern.
The word "haiku" is a relatively new invention which came into vogue in the 20th century. Before that it was known as "hokku," which means "starting verse." Originally the hokku was the first part of a two-part stanza called the haikai (it is by combining these two words that modern critics coined the term "haiku"), which means "unusual" or "offbeat." Haikai was a social activity, similar to some drinking songs or the hoedown at the end of "Who's Line Is It Anyway?," in which the participants each improvise a verse of a collective poem. The resulting haikai-no-renga poems were often hilarious and scatological, and the style was a popular alternative to the austere formality of the waka/tanka poems of the Court nobility, or the powerful Shoguns. Around the end of the 17th century, Basho and his followers began to take the hokku section on its own, and turned it into something entirely its own, which retained some of the wit and surprise of the haikai poems, but took on a new sensitivity and gravity.
Everyone knows the haiku form, which in its traditional form is a single poem of 17 syllables, typically divided into three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively. Additionally, strict tradition demands that the poem be on the subject of nature and contains a seasonal reference word, or kigo, to establish a context in the time of year. This could be the actual name of a season, or something more subtle, like a mention of birds' nests to indicate late spring/early summer. And, almost uniquely among poetic forms, traditional haiku is impervious to revision. The poem is to be written at the moment of inspiration, without conscious filtering, and once committed to paper is indelible, not to be changed.
These are fairly stringent requirements by the standards of modern poetry, and there are many things on the internet and off that ignore some or all of the rules and call themselves haiku. I will not disagree, but I will note that there is another relatively new word that was created specifically to address this new breed of poems that do not contain 17 syllables, or present kigo, or address a subject other than nature, or use the first person. The word is "senryu," and it generally connotes more comic verse, but traditionalists will apply it to anything that doesn't meet the above criteria.
I'll devote this column to a selection of traditional period haiku (or rather, hokku) poems. Future columns will address other traditional zen forms, as well as senryu, tanka and others. Attention will also be paid to Western short forms and short poems. But for now, here are some haiku. Keep in mind that translators of Japanese verse often ignore the 17 syllable rule in pursuit of representing the image in a way that is as sharp and beautiful in English as in the original form.
Green willows
paint eyebrows on the face
of the cliff
- Arakida Moritake (1472-1549), trans. Cheryl Crowley
What a beautiful moon! It casts
the shadow of pine boughs upon the mats.
- Takarai Kikaku (1661-1707), trans. Asatoro Miyamori
Under the rainclouds
The plum blossoms seem like stars
Despite the daylight
- Uejima Onitsura (1661-1738), trans. Cheryl Crowley
Even after waking
From the dream
I'll see the colors of irises.
- Ogawa Shushiki (1669-1725), trans. Alex Kerr
The evening breezes -
The water splashes against
A blue heron's shins.
- Yosa Buson (1716-1783), trans. Donald Keene
Under cherry trees
there are
no strangers
- Kobayashi Issa (1763-1867), trans. Lucien Stryk
The tree cut,
dawn breaks early
at my little window.
- Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), trans. Janine Beichman
Tomorrow, something modern.
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