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Monthly Archives: May 2010
WHAT AM I DOING HERE?
“Old” readers here will quickly notice the change in appearance of this site. I hope it may aid eyes wearied by the computer screen. With this change of “look” and of season, I want to take a few moments for … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Giacomo Leopardi, haikai, hokku, L'Infinito, poetry, prose, verse, writing
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A HOKKU FOR VESĀKHA
I was remiss in not posting a hokku for Vesākha, the remembrance of the Birth, the Enlightenment Nibbana (Nirvana) and the Passing Away (Parinibbana) of the Buddha. Vesākha takes place at the time of the full moon in May. In … Continue reading
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Tagged Buddha, Chora, Full moon of May, haikai, hokku, Nibbana, spring, temple, Vesākha
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IRRECOVERABLE AS LYONNESSE
It is time to ease into summer hokku. As a kind of introduction, here is one of the most evocative excerpts in English literature, from Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, filled with transience, the sense that all things are ephemeral and … Continue reading
MEMORIAL DAY
When this verse by Issa was written it was an autumn hokku. In the United States, however, it is a verse for the end of May — for Memorial Day, which used to be called “Decoration Day”: There is no … Continue reading
NO MODERN HAIKU, THANK YOU!
R. H. Blyth recognized even in his day that the hokku had fallen on hard times. He speaks with favor of Bashō, of Buson, of Issa, and even speaks of the “objective dryness yet pregnancy of Shiki” (who began haiku … Continue reading
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Tagged Bashô, Buson, haikai, haiku, hokku, Issa, Modern Haiku, poetry, Shiki, verse, writing
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MODERN HAIKU — THE UNWEEDED GARDEN
When I began teaching hokku on the Internet many long years ago, at first I had crowds of people flocking into my classes. They came largely from the modern haiku community. Unfortunately, however, most of them really did not want … Continue reading
CLOUDS APPEAR
We just looked at a verse for the time when spring is nearing its end: Warm rain From a cloudburst; Departing spring. Today, by contrast, we shall look at a verse on the other side of the seasonal divide: Clouds … Continue reading
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Tagged cloudburst, clouds, drought, haikai, haiku, heat, hokku, rain, spring, summer, windmill
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DEPARTING SPRING
Warm rain From a cloudburst; Departing spring. Beginning with the premise that a hokku is a sensory experience of Nature and the place of humans within Nature, set in the context of the season, we can see that every hokku … Continue reading
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Tagged cloudburst, departing spring, haikai, haiku, hokku, rain, spring
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THAT DEAREST FRESHNESS
A hokku is an experience of Nature and the place of humans as a part of Nature, set in the context of a season. Everything else about hokku — the two parts, the punctuation and capitalization, the techniques — exist … Continue reading
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Tagged Gerard Manley Hopkins, haikai, haiku, hokku, Otsuji, path, sea
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SOMETHING PERSONAL
IN MEMORIAM LORLY KUMMLER-DIENER 1911-2010 BEIM SCHLAFENGEHEN ON GOING TO SLEEP Nun der Tag mich müd gemacht, Soll mein sehnliches Verlangen Freundlich die gestirnte Nacht Wie ein müdes Kind empfangen. Now that day has wearied me, My ardent longing Shall … Continue reading
WHY “HOKKU”?
Newcomers here often wonder why I use the word “hokku” for the small verses I discuss. I use that word because it is the very word that has been used to describe them for over 300 years. It is the … Continue reading
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Tagged Bashô, change, haikai, haiku, hokku, Modern Haiku, Shiki
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THE PILGRIM’S CHILD
Shiki (the “founder” of haiku as different from hokku) wrote a verse that is really a hokku in structure and effect: A butterfly; The pilgrim’s child Lags behind. Like old hokku, this demands an intuitive leap by the reader. One … Continue reading
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Tagged butterflies, haikai, haiku, hokku, pilgrims, Shiki, spring
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A DOLL IS NOT ALWAYS A DOLL
When a writer of hokku writes about himself or herself, he does so as one would if writing about something else — as one would write about a tree, or a hawk circling in the sky. Baishitsu wrote: te ni … Continue reading
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Tagged Baishitsu, dolls, girls' festival, haikai, haiku, Hana-matsuri, hokku, spring
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LIFELONG STUDENTS
The practice of hokku is a lifelong process of learning. This is true whether one is a student or teacher, because even the teacher is also a lifelong student. Today I got a valuable insight into one reason why some … Continue reading
