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Haiku

"A traditional Japanese Haiku is a verse, made up of three unrhymed lines of poetry. Although it's patterned on a type of ancient Japanese poetry, it really dates back to the 1890's, when it was first recognized as a separate type of poetry. Strict rules are followed when writing Haiku. Each verse is to be made up of 17 syllables. The first and third lines are to have five syllables each. The middle line has seven" (Shiki Team. "Introduction").

The following lesson plan is adapted from the Shiki Team website (Shiki Team. "How do you Compose and Appreciate Haiku?") and information from other cited sources.

The Process of Composing HAIKU

The master Masaoka Shiki told his disciples that they had only
to look carefully at one scene in nature to be able to produce over 20 HAIKU.

Shiki wrote tens of thousands over his short lifetime of 36 years.
Many are excellent and as vibrant and full of meaning today as when they were written.

1. INTERNATIONAL HAIKU
During the past twenty years HAIKU has gained popularity in Canada, America, France and India. Words for international HAIKU are in capitals whereas the term Haiku when referring to work written in Japanese are in lower case.

After the storm
A boy wiping the sky
From the tables

- Darko Plazanin Sambo, Yugoslavia Ehime Prefecture
first prize 1990 National Cultural Festival Second

2. TRADITIONAL HAIKU
The poetry of Japanese masters was developed by Matsuo Basho, who wrote his famous haiku over 300 years ago, Buson came later and Santoka, only 50 years ago. Haiku Masters include Basho, Buson, Issa, Shiki, Santoka.

An old pond
a frog jumps in
Sound of water

- Matsuo Basho over 300 years ago
(the poem that is most often recited in Japan often meets with puzzlement by non-Japanese trying to grasp its deeper meaning.)


The sea at springtime.
All day it rises and falls,
yes, rises and falls.

- Buson
(as you read this poem aloud do you feel the rise and fall of the waves ? )


Going deeper
And deeper still
Green Mountains

- Santoka
(the rolling hills of Shikoku just outside of Matsuyama are as captivating to the eye today as they were to this hermit who lived in Matsuyama and lived off donations from his admirers)

3. WHAT DO YOU SEE?
What makes up a haiku? Do you see any similarities or possible rules?

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

4. THE RULES OF HAIKU

1. Keep the poem simple; try not to distract the reader with simile, metaphor or rhyme.
2. 3-short lines:

1 season word
1 cutting word
no rhyme, no simile or metaphor
17 syllables, 5-7-5
season

"On ants and poets ------------------ by Yoko Sugawa

When ten poets each endeavor to write about an ant, the result should be ten different ant haiku. If any of these haiku resemble another, the poet has only been observing the ant superficially or has based their haiku on their preconceptual image of an ant.

Let us look not at our ants but rather into them. Surely the ant will speak to us.

Ah!! Now quickly write down what caused that feeling of discovery. This is your ant and yours alone. Your "ant" must now be expressed in a fixed poetic form.

In Japanese a count of 17 syllables (5,7,5) is used. This expression should be in your own words, as they come naturally to you.

If your haiku has captured a Truth, there is no need to decorate your poem with flowery words.One should, however, keep in mind some of the main characteristics of haiku

 
THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF HAIKU.

1. To state without stating. In order to say ten things a haiku presents only two. Due to its length, every word is of the utmost importance.

2. A haiku gives the observer a new perspective and restimulates one's thoughts on the object as a whole.

3. When juxtaposing one must be careful that the two elements do not fit together too well. Their relationship must be "surprising".

4. Seasonal words (kigo) are very important to haiku. However in the modern world where the seasons have lost much of their omnipotency and where we wish to share our haiku internationally a more relaxed stance on kigo may be called for" (Sagawa).


5. SEASONS

The 17 syllables comprising a Haiku are a compressed form which is a composition in praise of nature. A good haiku "captures a moment in nature or in life and freezes it with disciplined language. Each reader, then thaws the message, the picture painted by words, and brings the scene to life" (Lipson and Romatowski).

To spur your imagination, make a chart of season words that you may want to incorporate into your Haiku. Fill in a chart with 4 sections, one for each season. Try and write 10 words in each box. What do you like or dislike about the seasons? Shiki listed thousands of season words.

Start with sports (Example: football is played in the fall. ) Next, write in names of food , flowers and weather. What feelings do these words inspire in you ? What will an American or European think about the words you want to share? Organize the words as you feel comfortable with by season, by geography, animals etc.

Spring

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suggestions to get you going: SPRING baseball, SUMMER sunflowers, ice cream, FALL autumn moon, WINTER icicles, snow. Fill in the chart with nature or season words.

 

 

6. Translations of Japanese Haiku by Shiki

A) What is the season?
B) What do you see that is surprising or is a new perspective?

Haiku Season
Perspective

a cock crows
at the foot of the small Mt. Fuji
peach blossoms

 

 

lights
far way, through
leaves of dense autumnal tints

 

at the root
of a pine tree
light lavender violet

 
Mountains are
yellow green, pale yellow-
a cuckoo cries

 

 
loneliness
after the fireworks
stars' shooting

 

 
stillness - -
fireflies are glowing over
deep water

 

 
almost black
deepening purple
ripe grapes

 

 

crimson sunset
even through clouds
vernal equinox

  
Locusts fly low
over the levee
in the fading sunshine

 

 
moon at twilight, a
cluster of petals falling
from the cherry tree		  
coldness
looking down from above
Matsuyama Castle		  
on a stormy night
while reading a letter
wavering mind		  
leaving me
something on my chest
tears on my mosquito net		  

It is cold,
but we have sake
and the hot spring

  
peeling a pear
sweet drops dripping
along the knife edge		  

biting into a bitter weed
alone I bear
my feelings

 
the sky draws near
such a bright sunrise
New Year's Day		  

blooming azaleas
in a hollow on
a cliff a Buddha stands

 

 

7. HAIKU GAME

Haiku lines are connected to one another in an abstract way, like a game you might have played, where one person says a word and you say the first thing that pops into your mind.

In Haiku, a poet has to come up with three lines, not just a single word. Two lines paint a picture in the reader's mind and then the last line adds a twist, so that the reader now sees everything from a different angle.

If we again go back to the word association game, you can get the idea.

First person says: GREEN
The second person responds with another color, and says: BROWN
The third player, having now heard two words, says: LEAF and there is the twist.

8. TRY IT
Now you write three lines. Keep them short . You will be surprised how much you can express with just a few nouns and verbs. Communicate your feelings, tell an interesting story, with just 3 lines.

The Imagination Trick

imag/: images, usually two of them, make for good Haiku
/i/: I. The Haiku could relate to your personal experience. What did you see today that you would like to share?
/nation: country or nature is referred to in haiku

Requirement Example* Your try
an image catching the light

 

 
a related image a spider threads--

 

 
ties two images together the cosmos

 

 
* This winning haiku was written by Earl Keener, a railroad repairman who won the Shiki Haiku Contest in 2000.

Refine your haiku to leave the international reader with a lasting impression of your image built on just a few nouns and verbs. You don't need to use adjectives.

References
1. Lipson, Greta and Jane Romatowski. A Handbook of 47 Poetic Forms. Torrance, CA: Good Apple. 1981.
2. Shiki Team. "Introduction: What is Haiku?" and "How do you Compose and Appreciate Haiku."Shiki Haiku Internet Haiku Salon. 31 Dec. 2000. 18 Feb. 2001 <http://mikan.cc.matsuyama-u.ac.jp/~shiki/intro.html>.
3. Sugawa, Yoko. "On Ants and Poets." Shiki Haiku Internet Haiku Salon. 31 Dec. 2000. 18 Feb. 2001 <http://mikan.cc.matsuyama-u.ac.jp/~shiki/ant.html>.