Ashraful Musaddeq :
Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry-a non-rhymed verse genre with seasonal theme which paint a mental image in the reader’s mind. It consists of 17 moras, in three phrases or metrical units of 5, 7 and 5 moras respectively. It is not 17 syllables but 17 moras. Moras are a bit different-it is Japanese sound unit. Haiku typically contains a kigo or seasonal reference and a kireji or cutting word.
It does not traditionally contain metaphors or similes and is written in present tense. Japanese Haiku is traditionally printed in a single vertical line but in English it usually appears in three lines, to parallel the three phrases of Japanese Haiku.
Haiku is like a tiny window into a scene much larger than itself. It’s a meditative poetry that valorises nature, colour, season, contrasts and surprises. It indicates a knoment, sensation, impression or drama of a specific moment in nature. Haiku poems can describe almost anything that gives the reader a brand new experience of a well-known situation.
During Edo-period (1600-1868), Masters as Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), Yosa/Taneguchi Buson (1715-83), and Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827) referred it as hokku. Long poems (renga) start with a striking introduction (hokku) and Japanese poet Matsuo Basho developed this introduction into an independent poem. He raised the haiku from a comic verse, often written for light relief, to a serious form, imbued with the spirit of Zen Buddhism. Another Japanese Master Masaoka Shiki (1866-1902) in 1892 officially separated the hokku from the tanka and gave birth to the independent poetic form of haiku.
During 9th-12th century, Japanese poetry called tanka was popularised and refined. Tanka was often written to explore religious or courtly themes in five lines with 5-7-5-7-7 mora or syllable structure. In 15th century, Japanese poetic form renga blossomed. Renga is a poem several poets create cooperatively. Members alternately add verses of 17 syllables (5, 7 and 5 syllables) and those of 14 syllables (7 and 7 syllables), until they complete a poem generally composed of 100 verses. In 16th cenhuy, haikai, humorous poem, became popular. Haikai is a poem made of verses of 17 and 14 syllables like renga, but it parodies renga introducing modern vulgar laughter.
During 17th cenhuy, Matsuo Basho deemed the first great haiku poet. The first verse of renga and haikai is called Hokku. Basho is considered the father of haiku. By the time of Basho, the hokku had begun to appear as an independent poem, and was also incorporated in haibun (prose + hokku), and haiga (Painting + hokku).
Nonoguchi (Hinaya) Ryuho (1595-1669) is the inventor of I haiga. But it became a major form of imaginative expression with Basho.Buson turned haiga into a more purely painterly medium. Basho was the prominent early writer of haibun. His most famous haibun is Oku no Hosomichi (Narrow Road to the Interior). In 19th cenhuy, Haiku was given its current name by the Japanese poet Masaoka Shiki at the end of the 19th century. He introduced the terms haiku to replace Hokku.
Kireji is considered the cutting word in Japanese haiku and is difficult to accurately define. It cuts the poem into two parts. Kireji is specific to Japanese haiku, but in English Haiku, punctuation including dashes or ellipsis can be used as the equivalent. Usually, contrasts are set up with the first two lines presenting one idea and then switching suddenly to another idea by the closing of the poem. This technique is referred to as cutting.
Kigo, a word or phrase suggestive of a season, is a must for haiku. It may be an animal, plant, event, custom or any other word symbolizing the season. Colours are also effective elements to use to reference the seasons and produce emotion. The most popular reference for kigo is a book called Saijiki, which is divided into the four seasons. Saijiki is a type of dictionary that allows writers to find descriptions of kigo along with lists of related words that can be used.
Modern Haiku does not adhere to the basic 5-7-5 syllable or mora principle because different languages have different phonetics. Syllables are not always the same length in every language and therefore, can be adjusted. Traditional Japanese haiku stays to strict form and meter principles but modern haiku has extended the poetry form to fit the life and time of today. Modern Haiku is sometimes looked down upon for its lax syllable count, use of metaphors, similes and rhyme, and unnatural images as its central focus.
The translation of Japanese Haiku into English has been a point of debate ever since haiku first gained popularity in the West. Exact translations, that mind the strict form and meter of the Haiku, are nearly impossible to achieve because of the phonetic differences between the languages.
The English language does not contain any equivalence to kereji, which are cutting words. Kereji is represented by punctuation such as a dash or ellipsis in English Haiku or in English translations of Japanese Haiku.
Kigo is deeply rooted in the Japanese culture in terms of seasons and symbolism. English Haiku writers incorporate their own culture and local conditions to produce similar effects. Seasons are common to all parts of the world, but specific symbols, concepts and species of plants and animals will differ from one region to another.
During the early 20th Century, Haiku was beginning to be initiated to the West such as in France by a writer named Paul Louis Couchoud. Haiku was introduced to the Western world largely by the translation efforts of Harold G Henderson and RH Blyth in the 1950’S. It was during the Beat Period in the US where original English haiku were being written by Beat Generation writers such as Jack Kerouac and Richard Wright. In 1968, the Haiku Society of America was established and the journal Frogpond was produced ten years later.
The American Haiku Archives was founded in 1996 and continues to stand as the largest public archive of Haiku poems and other related material in the West. n
Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry-a non-rhymed verse genre with seasonal theme which paint a mental image in the reader’s mind. It consists of 17 moras, in three phrases or metrical units of 5, 7 and 5 moras respectively. It is not 17 syllables but 17 moras. Moras are a bit different-it is Japanese sound unit. Haiku typically contains a kigo or seasonal reference and a kireji or cutting word.
It does not traditionally contain metaphors or similes and is written in present tense. Japanese Haiku is traditionally printed in a single vertical line but in English it usually appears in three lines, to parallel the three phrases of Japanese Haiku.
Haiku is like a tiny window into a scene much larger than itself. It’s a meditative poetry that valorises nature, colour, season, contrasts and surprises. It indicates a knoment, sensation, impression or drama of a specific moment in nature. Haiku poems can describe almost anything that gives the reader a brand new experience of a well-known situation.
During Edo-period (1600-1868), Masters as Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), Yosa/Taneguchi Buson (1715-83), and Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827) referred it as hokku. Long poems (renga) start with a striking introduction (hokku) and Japanese poet Matsuo Basho developed this introduction into an independent poem. He raised the haiku from a comic verse, often written for light relief, to a serious form, imbued with the spirit of Zen Buddhism. Another Japanese Master Masaoka Shiki (1866-1902) in 1892 officially separated the hokku from the tanka and gave birth to the independent poetic form of haiku.
During 9th-12th century, Japanese poetry called tanka was popularised and refined. Tanka was often written to explore religious or courtly themes in five lines with 5-7-5-7-7 mora or syllable structure. In 15th century, Japanese poetic form renga blossomed. Renga is a poem several poets create cooperatively. Members alternately add verses of 17 syllables (5, 7 and 5 syllables) and those of 14 syllables (7 and 7 syllables), until they complete a poem generally composed of 100 verses. In 16th cenhuy, haikai, humorous poem, became popular. Haikai is a poem made of verses of 17 and 14 syllables like renga, but it parodies renga introducing modern vulgar laughter.
During 17th cenhuy, Matsuo Basho deemed the first great haiku poet. The first verse of renga and haikai is called Hokku. Basho is considered the father of haiku. By the time of Basho, the hokku had begun to appear as an independent poem, and was also incorporated in haibun (prose + hokku), and haiga (Painting + hokku).
Nonoguchi (Hinaya) Ryuho (1595-1669) is the inventor of I haiga. But it became a major form of imaginative expression with Basho.Buson turned haiga into a more purely painterly medium. Basho was the prominent early writer of haibun. His most famous haibun is Oku no Hosomichi (Narrow Road to the Interior). In 19th cenhuy, Haiku was given its current name by the Japanese poet Masaoka Shiki at the end of the 19th century. He introduced the terms haiku to replace Hokku.
Kireji is considered the cutting word in Japanese haiku and is difficult to accurately define. It cuts the poem into two parts. Kireji is specific to Japanese haiku, but in English Haiku, punctuation including dashes or ellipsis can be used as the equivalent. Usually, contrasts are set up with the first two lines presenting one idea and then switching suddenly to another idea by the closing of the poem. This technique is referred to as cutting.
Kigo, a word or phrase suggestive of a season, is a must for haiku. It may be an animal, plant, event, custom or any other word symbolizing the season. Colours are also effective elements to use to reference the seasons and produce emotion. The most popular reference for kigo is a book called Saijiki, which is divided into the four seasons. Saijiki is a type of dictionary that allows writers to find descriptions of kigo along with lists of related words that can be used.
Modern Haiku does not adhere to the basic 5-7-5 syllable or mora principle because different languages have different phonetics. Syllables are not always the same length in every language and therefore, can be adjusted. Traditional Japanese haiku stays to strict form and meter principles but modern haiku has extended the poetry form to fit the life and time of today. Modern Haiku is sometimes looked down upon for its lax syllable count, use of metaphors, similes and rhyme, and unnatural images as its central focus.
The translation of Japanese Haiku into English has been a point of debate ever since haiku first gained popularity in the West. Exact translations, that mind the strict form and meter of the Haiku, are nearly impossible to achieve because of the phonetic differences between the languages.
The English language does not contain any equivalence to kereji, which are cutting words. Kereji is represented by punctuation such as a dash or ellipsis in English Haiku or in English translations of Japanese Haiku.
Kigo is deeply rooted in the Japanese culture in terms of seasons and symbolism. English Haiku writers incorporate their own culture and local conditions to produce similar effects. Seasons are common to all parts of the world, but specific symbols, concepts and species of plants and animals will differ from one region to another.
During the early 20th Century, Haiku was beginning to be initiated to the West such as in France by a writer named Paul Louis Couchoud. Haiku was introduced to the Western world largely by the translation efforts of Harold G Henderson and RH Blyth in the 1950’S. It was during the Beat Period in the US where original English haiku were being written by Beat Generation writers such as Jack Kerouac and Richard Wright. In 1968, the Haiku Society of America was established and the journal Frogpond was produced ten years later.
The American Haiku Archives was founded in 1996 and continues to stand as the largest public archive of Haiku poems and other related material in the West. n
