Haiku in Britain
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Haiku in Britain Theory, Practice, Context by Martin Lucas Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD at the University of Wales, Cardiff April2001 DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed F!.\Q.~~ ~.~s.: (candidate) Date·············..·..9.··..·····hf0.\··..···..~~·J······..···.. STATEMENT1 This thesis is the result of my own investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed ~~~r.- ~ ..~.~ (candidate) Date 5 ~.o..~ k.~..L .. STATEMENT2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. signed ~9.-:.r.hD. ~ ..~ (candidate) Date 3 ~.:,;~ U..9.1 . II Acknowledgements and Dedications Thanks are due to Dr John Freeman, my supervisor, for his critical insights and his constant encouragement, and to Mr Norman Schwenk, Creative Writing convenor, for seeing the value in the project from the beginning. I also thank all the members of my family, in particular my brother David, for his moral support, and my brother Peter, for his example. Nori, my wife, also showed great patience with the project, and acted as Japanese consultant'. Although my meetings with my fellow Creative Writing PhD students have been infrequent, I have deep appreciation for their companionship on the journey. The influence and inspiration of other haiku poets, in Britain and, indeed, around the world, has been an immense asset. They have loaned me much essential reading material, walked with me on desolate mountain-tops, and in sharing their enthusiasm they have brought joy to my life. I cannot name all those to whom I am indebted, but I would particularly like to express gratitude to John Barlow, Colin Blundell, David Cobb, Caroline Gourlay, Stuart Quine, Helen Robinson, David Steele, and my web site designer, Daniel Trent. There is a real sense in which this thesis pools a 'collective wisdom' and contributions have been made by many others not mentioned here. (I mean, in spirit. In substance it is naturally my original work!). Above all, there are three friends with whom I sense an abiding solidarity. They seem to me to hear the heartbeat of haiku; when I go astray they call me back; it would make a lot less sense without them; and it is to Stephen Gill, Fred Schofield and Brian Tasker that I dedicate this work. There are two final things to mention. The first is to put on record the profound debt that I, and all poets writing haiku in English, owe to R.H.Blyth. I never met the man - he died on my second birthday - but whenever I read his work I sense an intense spiritual proximity. His interpretation of haiku to the West has been invaluable. The second thing to say is that, as I come to the close of writing this thesis, I have an uncanny sense that my true understanding of haiku is only beginning. Perhaps what I sense now I would have expressed in a different way, but that sense could never have developed without the experience of this research project. To sum up the feeling, I can do no better than to quote a poem by Shiki, which I have always taken to be a haiku about haiku: rowing a small boat past a big boat this long spring day 1lI Summary The subject of this thesis is the haiku poem, which is now established as a viable form in English. The possibilities of the form - and its kindred forms of tanka, renga and haibun - are exemplified by my own creative writing, presented in Chapter Seven. This presentation is supported by nine further chapters dealing successively with haiku history, theory, practice and context. The chapters on haiku history offer an outline of the development of the form in Japan, together with discussion of its initial adaptation to the English-language context in North America. Chapter Four, on haiku theory, brings together a series of diverse essays which combine into a detailed analysis of the key requirements of haiku, both in terms of form and content. The chapters on haiku practice focus attention on the poets and publications that have pioneered the development of haiku in Britain during the decade of the 1990s. The three concluding chapters analyse haiku in the context of renga (linked verse), haibun (haiku prose), and in relation to other forms of artistic presentation, not least other forms of poetry. The entire thesis is intended to constitute a thorough grounding in the specific demands and values of haiku in English. iv Contents PART ONE: HISTORY Chapter One: Haiku: the Background 1.1 Preliminary information and Definitions page 1 1.2 The limitations of this thesis 6 Chapter Two: Haiku in Japan 2.1 Haiku history: tanka 8 2.1.1 Saigyo 12 2.2.1 Haiku history: renga 14 2.2.2 Haiku before Basho 15 2.2.3 Basho 17 2.2.4 Buson 25 2.2.5 Issa 26 2.2.6 Shiki 27 2.2.7 Kyoshi and Hekigodo 30 2.2.8 Santoka 31 2.2.9 Haiku inJapan: the current situation 33 Chapter Three: Haiku in North America 3.1 Introduction 35 3.2 Haiku in North America - a short history 36 3.3 The Haiku Anthology 38 3.4 The Haiku Handbook 45 3.5 The Wordless Poem 48 v PART TWO: THEORY Chapter Four: English-language haiku: theoretical issues 4.1 Introduction page 52 4.2 Haiku in Britain: Guidelines, and the evolution of Consensus 53 4.3 The variety of haiku forms 59 4.3.1 Alternatives to three-line haiku 59 4.3.2 Varieties of three-line haiku 65 4.4 Aspects of haiku content 76 4.4.1 Punctuation 76 4.4.2 Layout 77 4.4.3 Season Words 78 4.4.4 Present Tense 81 4.4.5 Internal Comparison 82 4.4.6 Metaphor 83 4.4.7 Overt expression of thought or feeling 87 4.4.8 Imagination and experience 90 4.4.9 Music: alliteration and cadence 91 4.4.10 Haiku Moment 93 4.4.11 Haiku moments and haiku myths 95 4.5 Zen interpretations of haiku 98 4.5.1 Perceptions of Japanese character 99 4.5.2 Haiku as Zen art 100 4.5.3 The four moods 103 4.6 Haiku, Senryu and Tanka: Characteristics and Relationships 106 4.6.1 Haiku and Senryu 107 4.6.2 Haiku and Tanka 113 PART THREE: PRACTICE Chapter Five: Haiku in Britain (1): Publications 5.1 Introduction 120 5.2 British Haiku Magazines and other Publications 121 5.2.1 Collections 122 5.2.2 Anthologies 124 5.2.3 Magazines 125 vi 5.3 On Editing Presence page 162 5.3.1 Production 162 5.3.2 The editing process 166 5.3.3 Poetry other than haiku 170 5.3.4 The place and value of artwork 171 5.3.5 The challenge of reviews 173 5.3.6 Best-of-issue Awards 176 5.3.7 Administration 177 Chapter Six: Haiku in Britain (2): Poets and Poems 6.1 Major British haiku poets 180 6.1.1 Colin Blundell 181 6.1.2 David Cobb 185 6.1.3 Caroline Gourlay 190 6.1.4 Michael Gunton 193 6.1.5 Jackie Hardy 196 6.1.6 Cicely Hill 200 6.1.7 George Marsh 202 6.1.8 Fred Schofield 205 6.1.9 Brian Tasker 209 6.2 Selected haiku with commentary 212 229 6.3 Coda: a mini-anthology Chapter Seven: Creative Writing: Haiku, Tanka, Renga, Haibun 232 7.1 Freewheeling: 114 haiku 232 7.1.1 Morning Sun 234 7.1.2 Summer Night Music 235 7.1.3 Steel Drum 237 7.1.4 New Millennium 239 7.1.5 Saxophone 240 7.1.6 Graffiti 242 7.2 Nine tanka 7.3 Renga 243 7.3.1 Writer's Block 244 7.3.2 Kicking the leaves 245 246 7.3.3 Pulp Friction 7.3.4 Baroque Masterpiece 247 248 7.3.5 Almost a Sunflower vii 7.4 Haibun page 251 7.4.1 Eleven Days in Japan 251 7.4.2 Jubilee Tower 260 7.4.3 Weatherbeaten in Wharfedale 262 7.4.4 A Walk to the Stork 267 PART FOUR: CONTEXT Chapter Eight: On Renga 8.1 Introduction 270 8.2 The beginnings of renga 271 8.3 Renga rules 273 8.4 A study of a renga poet: Shinkei 277 8.5 Basho's renga 282 8.6 Western renga 284 8.7 Renga: presentation and analysis 290 8.7.1 Writer's Block 291 8.7.2 Kicking the leaves 302 8.7.3 Pulp Friction 304 Chapter Nine: On Haibun 9.1 Introduction 306 9.2 Basho's haibun 306 9.3 Haibun in North America 311 9.4 Haibun in Britain 314 Chapter Ten: Haiku in Context 10.1 Haiga 323 10.2 Western haiku; western art 325 10.3 Haiku and Music 327 viii 10.4 Haiku sequences page 329 10.5 The haiku / poetry interface (1) 331 10.6 The haiku / poetry interface (2) 334 10.7 Haiku Events 337 10.8 Haiku web sites 340 10.9 Haiku contests 341 10.10 The future of haiku (1) 342 10.11 The future of haiku (2) 344 10.12 In Conclusion ... 346 Appendix: Haiku with artwork 348 Bibliography 353 ix 1 Haiku: the Background 1.1 Preliminary information and Definitions During the decade of the 1990s haiku established itself as a viable and energetic sector of the Small Press poetry scene in Britain.