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Himeji Castle in Spring

Haiku: Classic Japanese Poetry

Haiku (俳句), one of the major forms of Japanese poetry, has been used for hundreds of years. Formerly known as hokku, this verse form is known for expressing a host of meanings in very few words.

Structure and Meaning

A haiku contains 3 lines with 17 on (also known as morae.) The first and third lines have 5 morae while the second line has 7. On is usually composed of a consonant and a vowel, and is not to be confused with the syllable, or shonetsu.

A characteristic of the Haiku is the use of a cutting word, kireji, to separate or emphasize two ideas or images that are related to each other in some way in the poem. The kireji is a useful tool since the choice of word and its placement in the poem can highlight a mood, provide closure, or establish a connection between ideas.

Unlike the haiku in English which is written in three structured lines, the Japanese haiku is written in one vertical line although it contains three phrases.

Masaoka Shiki’s haiku at Horyu-ji Buddhist temple, Nara Prefecture:

kaki kueba
kane ga naru nari
Hōryū-ji

Translated into English by Janine Beichman:

I bite into a persimmon
and a bell resounds—
Hōryūji

A seasonal implication, kigo, can also be found in the poem, whether it is a whole line or just one word. From this, one can get the impression of the weather, the scenery, and the various meanings and emotions symbolized by the season.

The Poet Basho Matsuo

Recognized as the first great haiku poet, Basho Matsuo (1644-1694) wrote haikus that exuded dramatic expressions. From his verses, one can infer the smallness of man’s place in the world compared to the magnificence of nature.

Here are a few of Basho’ haikus translated into English:

Spring departs.
Birds cry
Fishes’ eyes are filled with tears

I like to wash,
the dust of this world
In the droplets of dew.

Sparrow, spare
The horsefly
Dallying in flowers.

Numerous haiku poems have been translated into English and other languages, and it is very likely that nuances get lost or altered in translation. A haiku can also have many English variations, as with the case of Basho’s famous frog poem:

Furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto

In this verse, the kireji is ‘ya,’ which separates the two ideas but allows the reader to interpret their interconnection based on how he understands it.

Here are three English versions of the haiku:

Into the ancient pond
A frog jumps
Water’s sound!

– Translated by D.T. Suzuki

The old pond —
a frog jumps in,
sound of water.

– Translated by Robert Hass

The old pond
A frog jumped in,
Kerplunk!

– Translated by Allen Ginsberg

Haiku poetry is now embedded into Western literature. One can find countless of English poems written in the haiku form, although on often become transformed into syllables. Have some fun writing your very own haiku!

Sources:

www.sacred-texts.com/shi/jh/jh01.htm

www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Masaoka_Shiki

http://sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/sp/lessonj/doc/mora.html

www.big.or.jp/~loupe/links/ehisto/ebasho.shtml

www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/basho-frog.htm

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HoryujiKakikueba0354.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kireji

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