Five-Seven-Five: Return of the Haiku
Hello! Jack Pine Savage standing in for Kim Hruba who remains busy on the road with her two oldest offspring. She has just returned from the West Coast where she and her son explored several schools. In a day or two, she and her daughter (Tereza) head for the East Coast where Tereza returns for her sophomore year. With that itinerary, is it any wonder I’m writing for you today?
If you follow my Monday posts, you will know that Monday is Poetry Day! So, I can’t help myself; you are getting a double dose of poetry this week. Some time has passed since I shared the art of the haiku, so that’s our form of the day for this post.
Five-Seven-Five
Five – seven – five. The number of syllables in the three lines of a haiku. Looks simple, right? Just three little lines. But just try to pack form, purpose, meaning, a season, a punchy third line – all preferably written in the present tense. And that’s just a few of the “rules” of haiku, a poetic form courtesy of Japan. Add other form preferences such as images that typically connect with the natural world with a touch of one of the four seasons. These guidelines make those brief seventeen syllables a true poetic adventure.
The purpose of haiku is to share a brief moment or event so that the reader can bring to life in his or her mind (and thus undergo the same feelings) without having to physically experience what the author is expressing in the poem.
A haiku doesn’t tell, or merely describe. Rather, it allows the reader to enter the poem in a personal way. The haiku form is ideal for non-fiction observations as a kind of shorthand for remembering events or incidents and their emotional tones. Haiku can be therapeutic, and they exercise both the right and the left side of the brain.
The three haiku below have been written by yours truly.
The Haiku
One-legged crane still stands
persistence with no purpose
though winter tumbles
Green snake inside out
slips and sloughs translucent vine
deserts severed self
After lover’s arms
fuchsia leaves fall from his dress
his perfume lingers
Background
The haiku first emerged in Japanese literature during the 17th century, as a terse reaction to elaborate poetic traditions, though it did not become known by the name haiku until the 19th century. The purpose of haiku is to share a brief moment or event so that the reader can bring to life in his or her mind (and thus experience the same feelings) without having to physically experience what the author is expressing in the poem.
Originally, the haiku form was restricted in subject matter to an objective description of nature suggestive of one of the seasons, evoking a definite, though unstated, emotional response. The form gained distinction in the seventeenth century when the great master, Basho, elevated it to a highly refined and conscious art.
The form’s popularity beyond Japan expanded significantly after the Second World War, and today, haiku are written in a wide range of languages.
ReplyDeleteThere once was a writer named Kim
Who blew town and our prospects were dim
But Cath saved the day
With some haikus. Hooray!
Through the net without touching the rim
You are too kind, Sir! Thank you for the acknowledgement.
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