JICC Teaching Tuesday: Haiku

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

HAIKU Haiku poetry developed in the Heian period of Japan, but was not original- ly considered its own style of poetry. In the 9th century, the most common form of Japanese poetry, the waka, was refined into a structure called a tanka, which featured a very specific 5-7-5-7-7 sound form. These in turn inspired renga, an elite parlor game between two or more writers, where poets would alternate between writing 5-7-5 stanzas, called a hokku, and 7-7 stanzas. These renga were often hundreds of lines long. As the hokku would set the mood and scene for the poem, hokku authors were often admired for their skill, and in the 19th century, the hokku began to be written and read as an individual poem, the haiku. Haiku can be written about almost anything, but there are some specific techniques that make a poem a haiku. One of the most important struc- tural elements is the kigo, a season word, which indicate in which season the haiku is set. The season is fundamental to haiku, otherwise it can be mistaken as another type of poetry. A haiku also often uses the technique of “cutting” (kiru 切る), where two independent images or ideas are juxta- posed by using a kireji 切れ字 (“cutting word”) between them. In English, this is usually done using a colon, long dash or ellipsis. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of 17 on (音), or phonetic sounds, ar- ranged in lines of five, seven, and five. On is sometimes translated as “syl- lables” in English, but as Japanese kanji can often condense more sound and meaning than the English Roman alphabet, the 5-7-5 structure is not considered a strict rule. Therefore, in English, modern haiku focus on the essence of the haiku, defining it as a short poem using imagery to convey the essence of nature or the season in connection with human life. 1150 18TH STREET NW, SUITE 100 | WASHINGTON, DC 20036-3838 TEL: 202-238-6900 | FAX: 202-822-6524 | [email protected].

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Should Senryu Be Part of English-Language Haiku ? by Jane Reichhold
Essays Should Senryu Be Part of English-language Haiku ? by Jane Reichhold hanks TO THE INSTANT CONNECTEDNESS THAT THE )NTERNET BRINGS US Teven the most obscure concepts and ideas leap from continent TO LANDMASSHEART TO MINDWITHIN DAYS 4HE AVAILABILITY OF E MAIL PUTS OUR DESKS ANYWHERE ON THE GLOBE NEXT TO EACH OTHER )N THIS NEW ATMOSPHERE OF CLOSENESS ) WOULD LIKE TO ASK ALL THE EDITORS OF HAIKU magazines — paper and online — and the ofﬁcers of haiku groups, as well as writers who love haiku, to reconsider their stand on senryu. We NEED TO RE EVALUATE THE HISTORY AND CURRENT SITUATION OF SENRYU AND TO make clear how we are to go forward in regard to its relationship to haiku. A simple Web search can bring anyone the history of senryu, with its origins in the maekuzuke (an informal contest to write a tan renga WITH TWO LINKS OF nn AND n SOUND UNITS WRITTEN BETWEEN TWO PER SONS )N THE lRST COLLECTION OF THESE CAPPING VERSES WAS PUBLISHED as Haifu yanagidaru BY +ARAI (ACHIEMON WHOSE PEN NAME 3ENRYû, MEANS h2IVER 7ILLOWv /VER THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS FURTHER EDI tions of these collections were published until the submitted poems be came too raunchy and of too poor quality to publish. Currently there is an effort in Japan to rehabilitate and resurrect senryu. What may NOT BE SO EASILY DISCOVERED IS HOW WRITERS AND PUBLISHERS OF %NGLISH LANGUAGE HAIKU AND SENRYU DIFFER FROM THEIR COLLEAGUES IN *APAN ) would like to lead you through various divergences and show how we have gotten ourselves into the current situation.
[Show full text]
Mathematics Across the Curriculum: Poetry and the Haiku
Mathematics across the curriculum: Poetry and the haiku John Gough Deakin University (retired) <[email protected]> “Today’s language lesson is about a special kind A haiku is like a captivating photo of something of poem: the haiku.”1 And so the lesson begins— in nature. A traditional haiku has at least two easy, familiar, predictable. No calculations, geo- parts, often contrasting. It also mentions or metric diagrams or metric measurements. Not a suggests a season of the year. (Leaves colouring mathematical thought in anyone’s head—which or falling, for example, suggest autumn; daf- is hardly surprising. fodils indicate spring.) It exemplifies the mystical But wait a minute: what about these math- paradoxes of Zen Buddhism but these spiritual ematical demands and opportunities in a poetry ideas go beyond the scope of this discussion. lesson on haiku? Number of lines, counting Haiku seem simple. But which of the following syllables, defining syllables, Japan, seasons, gram- is a haiku? matical cohesion, meaningful focus… A. Midday cicadas Counting a mere three lines is, literally, child’s Like a thousand alarm clocks play. Any student who can learn to write haiku Waking the babies. will have automated counting lines “one, two, three”and syllable counting up to seven. Such B. The afternoon traffic counting is mathematical, but I will ignore it. Is roaring like a waterfall’s However, there is more. Distant drumming. Syllables can be slippery. How many syllables C. Midday cockatoos in that last sentence? It depends how you say the Screeching conversations words. For example, syll-a-bles can be slipp-er-y Almost sound sensible.
[Show full text]
Haiku Attunement & the “Aha” Moment
Special Article Haiku Attunement & the “Aha” Moment By Edward Levinson Author Edward Levinson As a photographer and writer living, working, and creating in Japan spring rain for 40 years, I like to think I know it well. However, since I am not an washing heart academic, the way I understand and interpret the culture is spirit’s kiss intrinsically visual. Smells and sounds also play a big part in creating my experiences and memories. In essence, my relationship with Later this haiku certainly surprised a Japanese TV reporter who Japan is conducted making use of all the senses. And this is the was covering a “Haiku in English” meeting in Tokyo where I read it. perfect starting point for composing haiku. Later it appeared on the evening news, an odd place to share my Attunement to one’s surroundings is important when making inner life. photographs, both as art and for my editorial projects on Japanese PHOTO 1: Author @Edward Levinson culture and travel. The power of the senses influences my essays and poetry as well. In haiku, with its short three-line form, the key to success is to capture and share the sensual nature of life, both physical and philosophical. For me, the so-called “aha” moment is the main ingredient for making a meaningful haiku. People often comment that my photos and haiku create a feeling of nostalgia. An accomplished Japanese poet and friend living in Hokkaido, Noriko Nagaya, excitedly telephoned me one morning after reading my haiku book. Her insight was that my haiku visions were similar to the way I must see at the exact moment I take a photo.
[Show full text]
Rhyming Pattern Selection in Japanese Short Poetry
Original Paper________________________________________________________ Forma, 21, 259–273, 2006 Statistical Prosody: Rhyming Pattern Selection in Japanese Short Poetry Kazuya HAYATA Department of Socio-Informatics, Sapporo Gakuin University, Ebetsu 069-8555, Japan E-mail address: [email protected] (Received August 5, 2005; Accepted August 2, 2006) Keywords: Quantitative Poetics, Rhyme, HAIKU, TANKA, Bell Number Abstract. Rhyme patterns of Japanese short poetry such as HAIKU, SENRYU, SEDOKAs, and TANKAs are analyzed by a statistical approach. Here HAIKU and SENRYU are poems composed of only seventeen syllables, which can be segmented into five, seven, and five syllables. As rhyming both head and end rhymes are considered. Analyses of sampled works of typical poets show that for the end rhyme composers prefere the avoided rhyming, whereas for the head rhyme they compose poems according to the stochastic law. Subsequently the statistical method is applied to a work of SEDOKAs as well as to those of TANKAs being written with three lines. Evaluation of the khi-square statistics shows that for a certain work of TANKAs the feature being identical to that of HAIKU is seen. 1. Introduction Irrespective of languages, texts are categorized into proses and verses. Poems, in general, take the form of the latter. Conventional poetics has classified poems into a variety of forms such as a lyric, an epic, a prose, a long, and a short poem. One finds that in typical European poetry a sound on a site in a line is correlated to that on the same site in another line in an established form. Correlation among feet of lines is termed end rhyme in contrast to the head rhyme for the one among heads of lines (SAKAMOTO, 2002).
[Show full text]
Kigo-Articles.Pdf
Kigo Articles Contained in the All-in-One PDF 1) Kigo and Seasonal Reference: Cross-cultural Issues in Anglo- American Haiku Author: Richard Gilbert (10 pages, 7500 words). A discussion of differences between season words as used in English-language haiku, and kigo within the Japanese literary context. Publication: Kumamoto Studies in English Language and Literature 49, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan, March 2006 (pp. 29- 46); revised from Simply Haiku 3.3 (Autumn 2005). 2) A New Haiku Era: Non-season kigo in the Gendai Haiku saijiki Authors: Richard Gilbert, Yûki Itô, Tomoko Murase, Ayaka Nishikawa, and Tomoko Takaki (4 pages, 1900 words). Introduction to the Muki Saijiki focusing on the muki kigo volume of the 2004 the Modern Haiku Association (Gendai Haiku Kyôkai; MHA). This article contains the translation of the Introduction to the volume, by Tohta Kaneko. Publication: Modern Haiku 37.2 (Summer 2006) 3) The Heart in Season: Sampling the Gendai Haiku Non-season Muki Saijiki – Preface Authors: Yûki Itô, with Richard Gilbert (3 pages, 1400 words). An online compliment to the Introduction by Tohta Kaneko found in the above-referenced Muki Saijiki article. Within, some useful information concerning the treatments of kigo in Bashô and Issa. Much of the information has been translated from Tohta Kaneko's Introduction to Haiku. Publication: Simply Haiku Journal 4.3 (Autumn 2006) 4) The Gendai Haiku Muki Saijiki -- Table of Contents Authors: Richard Gilbert, Yûki Itô, Tomoko Murase, Ayaka Nishikawa, and Tomoko Takaki (30 pages, 9300 words). A bilingual compilation of the keywords used in the Muki Saijiki Table of Contents.
[Show full text]
Japanese Elements in the Poetry of Fred Wah and Roy Kiyooka
Susan Fisher Japanese Elements in the Poetry of Fred Wah and Roy Kiyooka For nearly a century, Japanese poetic forms have pro- vided inspiration for poets writing in English. The importance of Japanese poetry for Ezra Pound and its role in the formation of Imagism have been well documented (see, for example, Kawano, Kodama, and Miner). Charles Olson, in his manifesto "Projective Verse" (1950), drew examples from Japanese sources as well as Western ones. Several of the Beat Generation poets, such as Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, and Philip Whalen, studied in Japan and their work reflects a serious interest in Japanese poetry. Writing in 1973, p o e t and translator Kenneth Rexroth declared that "classical Japanese and Chinese poetry are today as influential on American poetry as English or French of any period, and close to determinative for those born since 1940" (157). Rexroth may have been overstating this influence; he, after all, had a role in creating it. Nonetheless, what Gary Snyder calls the "myste- riously plain quality" of East Asian verse has served as a model for the simple diction and directness of much contemporary poetry ("Introduction" 4). Writers belonging to these two generations of Asian-influenced American poets—the Imagists and the Beat poets—had no ethnic connection to Asia. But the demographic changes of the last few decades have produced a third generation whose interest in Asian poetry derives at least in part from their own Asian background. Several Asian Canadian poets have written works that are modelled on Japanese genres or make sustained allusions to Japanese literature.
[Show full text]
EARLY MODERN JAPAN 2010 the Death of Kobayashi Yagobei
EARLY MODERN JAPAN 2010 5 The Death of Kobayashi Yagobei since. At some point before he had reached the ©Scot Hislop, National University of Singapore pinnacle of haikai rankings, Issa wrote an account, now called Chichi no shūen nikki (父の終焉日記: Introduction A Diary of my Father’s Final Days), of his father’s illness, death, and the first seven days of the fam- It is an accident of literary history that we know ily’s mourning. anything about Kobayashi Yagobei. His death, on Chichi no shūen nikki, as it has come down to the twentieth day of the 5th month of 1801 (Kyōwa us, is a complex text. Some parts of it have been 1) in Kashiwabara village, Shinano Province,1 was discussed in English language scholarship at least 6 important to his family. But Yagobei was not John F. since Max Bickerton’s 1932 introduction to Issa Kennedy, Matsuo Bashō,2 or even Woman Wang.3 and it is often treated as a work of literature or a 7 Yagobei’s death was the quotidian demise of some- diary. This approach to Chichi no shūen nikki one of no historical importance. However his eldest owes a great deal to the work of Kokubungaku 8 son, Yatarō, became Kobayashi Issa.4 In the years (Japanese National Literature) scholars. However, following his father’s death, Issa became one of the in order to read Chichi no shūen nikki as a book two or three most famous haikai (haiku) poets of within the canon of Japanese National Literature his generation and his renown has not diminished (Kokubungaku), it must be significantly trans- formed in various ways and a large portion of it is 1 The part of Shinano Town closest to Kuro- hime train station in Nagano Prefecture.
[Show full text]
Crossing the Ocean, Dreaming of America, Dreaming of Japan: Transpacific Transformation of Japanese Immigrants in Senryu Poems; 1929–1941
4-Teruko Kumei(p81) 6/21 05.7.12 6:45 PM ページ 81 The Japanese Journal of American Studies, No. 16 (2005) Crossing the Ocean, Dreaming of America, Dreaming of Japan: Transpacific Transformation of Japanese Immigrants in Senryu Poems; 1929–1941 Teruko KUMEI * IINTRODUCTION Thirty years have passed since Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian American Writers was published in 1974.1 Today no one dares to “refuse to recognize Asian-American literature as ‘American’ literature.”2 Yet, the rich heritage of the immigrant literature written in Japanese remains little explored in literary scholarship and criticism, and thoroughly ex- cluded from the literary histories of both the United States and Japan.3 The editors of Aiiieeeee! excluded Asian immigrant writers like Lin Yutang, C.Y Lee, Yone Noguchi and Sadakichi Hartman because, they considered, those writers did not share Asian American sensibilities— their sense of distinctness as well as wounded feelings of having been ignored and excluded.4 If the editors had reached out for immigrant lit- erary works in Japanese, however, they might have had different atti- tudes. On the west side of the Pacific, “Japanese literature” seems to be interpreted as literary works by Japanese people in Japan.5 Japanese-lan- guage immigrant literature seems to have been suspended over the Pa- cific, unable to find a landing place either in the United States or Japan. This paper explores Japanese immigrants’ senryu as historical docu- ments in an attempt to shed some light on the transformation of Japanese Copyright © 2005 Teruko Kumei. All rights reserved. This work may be used, with this notice included, for noncommercial purposes.
[Show full text]
The History of Australian Haiku and the Emergence of a Local Accent
The History of Australian Haiku and the Emergence of a Local Accent Author: Rob Scott, B.A. Dip Ed. College of the Arts, Writing, Communication and Culture Discipline Group, Victoria University Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Masters by Research March, 2014. Table of Contents The History of Australian Haiku and the Emergence of a Local Accent ....................................................... i Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................................... v Student Declaration .........................................................................................................................................................vi Prologue to Thesis ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 Australia’s First Haiku? ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 – Introduction to Thesis ............................................................................................................................
[Show full text]
Basho's Haiku
Introduction THE HAIKU POETRY OF MATSUO BASHO¯ stormy sea— stretching out over Sado, Heaven’s River araumi ya / sado ni yokotau / amanogawa Basho¯ was standing on the western shores of Japan looking out upon the night sea. He was pausing on his long journey to the “deep north” of Japan, and he could hear the crashing of the waves. Miles beyond lay Sado Island. Sado was known as a place of riches, where gold was being mined. But even more it was known as a place where numerous people, including the Emperor Juntoku, the Buddhist leader Nichiren, and the great medieval No¯ dramatist Zeami, had endured the enforced soli- tude of exile. The poem begins with an exclamation of the vio- lence and vastness of the water, the cutting word ya functioning somewhat like an exclamation point. Then our consciousness is brought to a focus on the melancholy island, small in the cold sweep of ocean. The island lies in contrast to the ocean that sur- rounds it, yet it harbors centuries of the emotional storm of exile. Then our consciousness is pulled up and out across the sky, as Heaven’s River (the Milky Way) reaches from horizon to horizon. As a metaphorical river, it flows in eternal tranquillity above the storms of the sea and of human life, sparkling with a scattered brightness more pure than gold. Basho¯, the island, and everything on earth seem to be alone yet together under the 1 © 2004 State University of New York Press, Albany 2 Basho¯’s Haiku stream of stars.
[Show full text]
HAIKU/WEATHERGRAM TALK ESCRIBIENTE 4/5/17 Dale Harris
HAIKU/WEATHERGRAM TALK ESCRIBIENTE 4/5/17 Dale Harris HISTORY OF HAIKU Haiku or Hokku comes from Renga, a form of linked Japanese poetry dating from the 11th Century. The Renga phenomena was inspired by a classic work of fiction The Tale of Genji written by a noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu. The exchange of poetry between lovers plays a major role in her descriptions of the intricacies of court life and romantic intrigue. Lady Murasaki believed that if you received a poem or any deep expression from another person and you made no response in like manner to it, you were heartless and a barbarian. The idea spread from fiction into the real world of Japanese society. So was born the movement of writing a poem responding to another poem and poetry as linked verse among larger groups, known as Renga. In China, a similar poetic form also became identified with and influenced renga. RENGA GATHERINGS In Japan during the heyday of renga writing, large numbers of poets would meet for renga parties that lasted for several days. These parties were often fueled by sake. Poets would submit their three line stanzas or hokku. A poet participating in a renga party would often have the opportunity to offer only one stanza to the poem. Of course, it was a great honor to have one’s verse selected by the Renga Master as the first verse that began the long poem. But alas, there could only be one chosen and many excellent stanzas were left over. In time, these rejects evolved into a stand-alone poetry form known as Haiku.
[Show full text]
Selected Hokku by Basho with Multiple Translations
SELECTED HOKKU BY BASHŌ WITH MULTIPLE TRANSLATIONS 1. ara umi ya rough sea ! sado ni yokotau Sado over stretch-across ama no gawa heaven 's river stormy sea: stretching over Sado, Heaven’s River --Barnhill, Bashō’s Haiku, 97, #409 the rough sea— flowing toward Sado Isle the River of Heaven --Ueda, Bashō and His Interpreters, 260 The rough sea-- Extending toward Sado Isle, The Milky Way. --Ueda, Matsuo Bashō, 54 a wild sea— stretching to Sado Isle the Milky Way --Shirane, Traces of Dreams, 242, 263, 303 High over wild seas surround Sado Island— the River of Heaven --Hamill, The Essential Bashō, 28 Across rough seas, it arches toward Sado Isle— The River of Heaven --Carter, Traditional Japanese Poetry, 357 Turbulent the sea— Across to Sado stretches The Milky Way. --Keene, Narrow Road 127 Rough sea: lying toward Sado Island the River of Heaven --Sato, Narrow Road 109 A wild sea, And stretching out towards the Island of Sado, The Milky Way. --Blyth, Haiku, vol. 3, 367 1 2. furu ike ya old pond ! kawazu tobikomu frog jump-in mizu no oto water 's sound old pond— a frog jumps in, water’s sound --Barnhill, Bashō’s Haiku, 54, #180 the old pond— a frog jumps in, water’s sound --Ueda, Bashō and His Interpreters, 140 The old pond-- A frog leaps in, And a splash. --Ueda, Matsuo Bashō, 53 an old pond … a frog leaps in, the sound of water --Shirane, Traces of Dreams, 13, 16, 77, 103 At the ancient pond a frog plunges into the sound of water --Hamill, The Essential Bashō, 117 At an old pond, a frog takes a sudden plunge.
[Show full text]