Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Karina, Ok, I'll bite. Haiku is a brief, fragment-like poetic form from Japan consisting of 17 syllables. In English, these are broken up into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables each. I believe the form itself comes from the renga, which is a type of "linking poetry" formed of alternating stanzas of 5/7/5 syllables and 7/7 syllables, usually composed in groups presided over by a "referee," because the rules are so numerous and so complex. The "feel" of haiku seems to come from the the renga, in which each stanza must contain a complete thought in and of itself, yet be open enough to be complete by the stanza that follows. That stanza too must complete the preceding one, make a statement of its own, yet be open enough to be completed by the stanza that follows, and so on. The renga is a beautiful form that evolves tremendously from one stanza to the next. The most well-known book of renga is "The Monkey's Raincoat," written by the most famous haiku poet, Basho, and his colleagues Boncho, Fumikuni, Kyorai, and Yasui. It's available in a fine English translation by Lenore Mayhew. So, some folk find haiku disconcerting, because it doesn't correspond to what they've been trained to look for when it comes to reading for meaning. The fact that haiku is written outside of Japan in languages from around the world would suggest that these folk are in the minority, as haiku has long become an internationally recognized poetic form, like the sonnet. There is a tradition of English-language haiku, and you should be able to find anthologies in any good bookstore. As for Japanese haiku in translation, you might begin with R.H. Blythe's anthologies, simply titled "Haiku" (there are 4 volumes). They are jointly published by the Hokuseido Press in Tokyo, and the Heian Internation in South San Francisco. Basho's most famous haiku is probably the following: The old pond a frog jumps in sound of water splashing Another of his more well-known haiku is: Year after year on the monkey's face a monkey's mask Check out the Blythe translations, if you're interested. He not only presents a wide body of work, his commentary is also very helpful in that it reveals what lies behind the haiku tradition and how some of what haiku has to say corresponds to the work and thought of many western poets. Happy reading. Guy - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html