A Japanese poetic miniature, consisting of three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. (The classic tanka has two further lines of 7 syllables.) This highly concentrated form, best exemplified by the 17th-c work of Matsuo Basho, has proved very popular outside Japan, and influenced among others the Imagists.
Haiku (俳句, ) is a mode of Japanese poetry, the late 19th century revision by Masaoka Shiki of the older hokku (発句, hokku), the opening verse of a linked verse form, haikai no renga. These elements of the older hokku are considered by many to be essential to haiku as well, although they are not always included by modern writers of Japanese "free-form haiku" and of non-Japanese haiku.
Hokku or haiku? Because it was only after this separation that the term became popular, scholars agree that it is technically incorrect to label hokku by pre-Shiki writers "haiku", a common
practice in the 20th century.
In this article, since it is intended to be accurate and objective,
hokku is used for verses that are written, if only theoretically, as opening verses of haikai no renga;Examples
Japanese hokku and haiku are traditionally printed in one vertical line, though in handwritten form they may be in any reasonable number of lines.
(At that time, Japanese rain-gear consisted of a large, round hat and a shaggy straw cloak.)
Origin and evolution
From renga to haikai
The exact origin of hokku is still subject to debate, but it is generally agreed that it originated from the classical linked verse form called renga (連歌).
The time of Bashō
Bashō's first known hokku was written when he was eighteen (scholars doubt the authenticity of a supposed earlier hokku written in honor of the Year of the Bird), but it showed little promise, and much of his early verse is little more than the kind of wordplay popular at the time.
Onitsura would be far more famous today as a haiku writer contemporary with Bashō, were it not that he, unlike Bashō, had no group of disciples to carry on his teachings.
This was the situation until the appearance of Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902), a reformer and revisionist who marks the end of hokku in a wider context.
All hokku up to the time of Shiki were written in the context of haikai, but Shiki completely separated his new style of verse from wider contexts. And finally, he discarded the term "hokku" and called his revised verse form "haiku". Shiki thus became the first haiku poet.
Haiga
Haiga, the combination of haiku and art, is nearly as old a haiku itself. Haiga began as haiku added to paintings, but included in Japan the calligraphic painting of haiku via brushstrokes, with the calligraphy adding to the power of the haiku. Earlier haiku poets added haiku to their paintings, but Basho is noted for creating haiga paintings as simple as the haiku itself.
Today, artists have combined haiku with paintings, photographs and other art media.
Modern haiku
Hekigotō and Kyoshi
Shiki's innovative approach to haiku was carried on in Japan by his most prominent students, Hekigotō and Kyoshi.
Haiku in the West
Although there were attempts outside Japan to imitate the old hokku in the early 1900s, there was little genuine understanding of its principles.
Blyth, Yasuda and Henderson
After early Imagist interest in haiku the genre drew less attention in English until after World War II, with the appearance of three influential volumes about Japanese haiku. Blyth, haiku was introduced to the post-war world. He produced a series of works on Zen, haiku, senryu, and on other forms of Japanese and Asian literature. Today he is best known as a major interpreter of haiku to the West. Many contemporary writers of haiku were introduced to the genre through his works. These include the San Francisco and Beat Generation writers, such as Gary Snyder, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg, many of whom have written haiku as well as better-known works. Many members of the international "haiku community" also got their first views of haiku from Blyth's books, including James W. In the late twentieth century, members of that community with direct knowledge of modern Japanese haiku often noted Blyth's distaste for haiku on more modern themes, and his strong bias regarding a direct connection between haiku and Zen, a "connection" largely ignored by Japanese poets. (Bashô, in fact, felt that his devotion to haiku prevented him from realizing enlightenment) Blyth also did not view haiku by Japanese women favorably, downplaying their substantial contributions to the genre, especially during the Bashô era and the twentieth century.
Alhough Blyth did not foresee the appearance of original haiku in languages other than Japanese when he began writing on the topic, and although he founded no school of verse, his works stimulated the writing of haiku in English. At the end of the second volume of his History of Haiku (1964), he remarked that "The latest development in the history of haiku is one which nobody foresaw,— the writing of haiku outside Japan, not in the Japanese language". Tuttle Co., with offices in both Japan and the U.S., published The Japanese Haiku: Its Essential Nature, History, and Possibilities in English, with Selected Examples by the Japanese-American scholar and translator Kenneth Yasuda. In The Japanese Haiku, Yasuda presented some Japanese critical theory about haiku, especially featuring comments by early twentieth-century poets and critics. Yasuda's theory includes the concept of a "haiku moment", which he said is based in personal experience and provides the motive for writing a haiku. While the rest of his theoretical writing on haiku is not widely discussed, his notion of the haiku moment has resonated with haiku writers in North America.
The impulse to write haiku in English in North America was probably given more of a push by two books that appeared in 1958 than by Blyth's books directly. Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums appeared in 1958, with one of its main characters, Japhy Ryder (based on Gary Snyder), writing haiku.
Also in 1958, An Introduction to Haiku: An Anthology of Poems and Poets from Bashô to Shiki by Harold G. (After the war, Henderson and Blyth worked for the American Occupation in Japan and for the Imperial Household, respectively, and their mutual appreciation of haiku helped form a bond between the two, even as they collaborated on communications between their respective employers.)
Henderson translated every hokku and haiku into a rhymed tercet (a-b-a), whereas the Japanese originals never used rhyme. Unlike Yasuda, however, he recognized that seventeen syllables in English are generally longer than the seventeen morae of a traditional Japanese haiku.
Henderson also welcomed correspondence, and when North Americans began publishing magazines devoted to haiku in English, he encouraged them. Not as dogmatic as Blyth, Henderson insisted only that haiku must be poems, and that the development of haiku in English would be determined by the poets.
The budding of American haiku
Precisely who qualifies as the first American haiku poet depends on one's definition of haiku. Other Westerners inspired by Blyth's translations attempted original haiku in English, though again generally failing to understand the principles behind the verse form, which in Blyth is predominantly the more challenging hokku rather than the later and more free-form haiku. The resulting verses, including those of the Beat period, were often little more than the brevity of the haiku form combined with current ideas of poetic content, or uninformed attempts at "Zen" poetry.
Nonetheless, these experimental verses expanded the popularity of haiku in English. While never making much of an impact on the literary world, haiku in America has proven very popular as a system for introducing students to poetry in elementary schools and as a hobby for numerous amateur writers who continue the innovation and experimentation that is the legacy of Shiki's reforms. However, the literary achievement of leading English-language haiku writers should not be underestimated. The Haiku Society of America was founded in 1968 to promote haiku, and other organizations have arisen. In 1991, the biennial Haiku North America conference was first held in California, and it continues to be the primary meeting ground for leading haiku poets, scholars, and translators on the continent. Poets Gerald Vizenor, Gordon Henry, Jr and Kimberley Blaeser, meanwhile, have connected the haiku form to the tradition of the Native American Anishinaabe tribe, stressing the essential interconnectedness of human and natural "worlds".
Today haiku is written in many languages, but the number of writers is still concentrated primarily in Japan and secondarily in English-speaking countries.
Contemporary English-language haiku
While traditional hokku focused on nature and the place of humans in nature, modern haiku poets often consider any subject matter suitable, whether related to nature, an urban setting, or even a technological context. While old hokku avoided some topics such as romance, sex, and overt violence, contemporary haiku often deals specifically with such themes.
Traditional hokku required a long period of learning and maturing, but contemporary haiku is often regarded as an "instant" form of brief verse that can be written by anyone from schoolchildren to professionals. Though conservative writers of modern haiku stay faithful to the standards of old hokku, many present-day writers have dropped such standards, emphasizing personal freedom and pursuing ongoing exploration in both form and subject matter.
In addition to the spread of haiku, the late 20th century also witnessed the surprising revival in English of the old hokku tradition, providing a continuation in spirit of pre-Shiki verse through adaptation to the English language and a wider geographic context.
Due to the various views and practices today, it is impossible to single out any current style or format or subject matter as definitive "haiku". A haiku then becomes three lines of 2, 3, and 2 metrical feet, with a pause after the second or fifth;
At the start of the 21st century, there is a thriving community of haiku poets worldwide, mainly communicating through national societies and journals in English-speaking countries (Blithe Spirit, Presence, Modern Haiku, Snapshots, Frogpond, Heron's Nest, Yellow Moon and many more), in Japan and in the Balkans (mainly Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia and Romania).
Modern media
Internet and television
Both haiku and hokku writers and verses, as well as huge volumes of pseudo-haiku, can be found online.
In the early days of the Internet, much of the development of haiku on-line stemmed from the Shiki Internet Haiku Salon. This site began an email list for haiku poets in 1996, which continues to operate in 2006. This development enabled haiku poets from across the world to communicate more easily, an important development for those haijin who are geographically isolated from like-minded poets.
In 1995, the scifaiku (science fiction haiku) form was invented by Tom Brinck.
In early 1998, Salon.com published the results of a haiku contest on the topic of computer error messages. there are "Spamku," (verses about SPAM - a brand of tinned meat) as well as many other clever variations on the brevity of the haiku form.
On the Macromedia Flash cartoon website, Homestar Runner, for Halloween 2004, the character of Strong Sad was featured at a booth reciting such haiku as:
Rapping at the door Fills up agéd pillowcase So sick of SmartiesTelevision
Witty haiku, often satirizing the form itself, have appeared in popular TV programs such as Beavis and Butt-Head and South Park
Novels
Neal Stephenson's novel Cryptonomicon opens with a haiku narrated by Bobby Shaftoe, one of the main characters:
Two tires fly.Throughout the course of the novel, Bobby Shaftoe writes many haikus describing his experiences in World War II.
The character Bowser in the game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, for the Super Nintendo, had his own Haiku. ~haiku (Bowser)
Haiku (or, more appropriately, satires thereof) also play a large role in the online adventure game Kingdom of Loathing. There is a Haiku Dungeon in which all adventures are written in haiku, and an in-game chat channel in which everyone must speak in haiku.
In addition, the characters in one level of Spyro: Year of the Dragon, for PlayStation, speak exclusively in freestyle haiku.
Famous writers
Pre-Shiki period (hokku)
Matsuo Basho (1644–1694) Onitsura (1661–1738) Yosa Buson (1716–1783) Kobayashi Issa (1763–1827)Shiki and later (haiku)
Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) Kawahigashi Hekigotō (1873–1937) Takahama Kyoshi (1874–1959) Taneda Santoka (1882–1940) Iida Dakotsu (1885–1962) Nakamura Kusatao (1901–1983)Non-Japanese poets
Although all of the poets below have some haiku in print, only Hackett and Virgilio are known primarily for haiku. Richard Wright, known for his novel "Native Son", wrote some 4000 haiku in the last eighteen months of his life. Although few were published during his lifetime, in 1998 HAIKU: This Other World was published with the 817 haiku that he preferred. Amiri Baraka recently authored a collection of what he calls "low coup," his own variant of the haiku form. Poet Sonia Sanchez is also known for her unconventional blending of haiku and the blues musical genre. Hackett Jorge Luis Borges Cid Corman Allen Ginsberg Dag Hammarskjöld
| Jack Kerouac Octavio Paz José Juan Tablada Kenneth Rexroth Edith Shiffert Gary Snyder | Amiri Baraka Richard Wright Sonia Sanchez Gerald Vizenor Nick Virgilio |
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