Archives
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
Blogroll
Blog Stats
- 118,342 hits
Monthly Archives: June 2010
“TRUE” AND “UNTRUE” HOKKU
In the past I have talked about the four kinds of verse, which can further be reduced to two kinds: 1. The “facts” of the verse viewed subjectively. 2. The “facts” of the verse viewed objectively. An important stage in … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bashô, Contemplative Verse, haikai, hokku, nature, objective, Old pond, poetry, subjective, unblown flute, wild ducks, writing
Leave a comment
AVOIDING DISTRACTIONS
It is important to distinguish the essentials from the nonessentials in learning hokku. Many people easily get sidetracked, often never finding their way back. There are, of course, ways to improve one’s conscious understanding of hokku. But it is the … Continue reading
A SUDDEN SHOWER
Readers will long ago have noticed that I use old hokku — including verses just beyond what is technically the old “hokku” period — quite often. My purpose in doing so is not just to provide a collection of old … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged carp, haikai, hokku, Kikaku, nature, poetry, Shiki, sudden shower, summer, women, writing, zen
Leave a comment
THE CLEAR WATER
A pleasant and simple summer hokku by Kitō: Little fish Are carried backwards; The clear water. We see the tiny fish in the clear, sunlight water, swimming against the current, which nonetheless is so strong that, still facing upstream, they … Continue reading
IT WAS THE THIRD OF JUNE…
Today I am going to combine some things I have talked about lately: First is the “Question” hokku, the whole point of which is to ask a question — or raise a question — that remains unanswered. Shiki wrote a … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged poetry, writing, summer, question hokku, Poems, Ode to Billy Joe, Bobbie Gentry, unanswered questions
Leave a comment
BEYOND THE HILLS: MORE PRACTICE IN CHINESE-STYLE VERSE
Here is some more on writing five-word Chinese-style quatrains. For this exercise I have chosen a verse by Li Pin, called “Crossing the Han River.” I have adjusted the five words of each line to fit English better, but the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Chinese poetry, essential words, Li Pin, nature, poetry, transience, writing
Leave a comment
ONE BIG, LAZY CAT IS ALL OF SUMMER
Issa wrote this summer hokku: The big cat – Flopped down on the fan Asleep. It is rather typical Issa, with his connection to animals and his kind of humor. The point of the verse is that it is summer, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged cat, coolness, fan, haikai, heat, hokku, Issa, poetry, spirituality, summer, writing, zen
Leave a comment
POEMS SPOKEN, POEMS SUNG
We should not forget that both in the West and in parts of the East (as in China), poetry was originally sung — so when we think of song lyrics, we are really thinking about poetry. I have already said … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Eric Benet, Jeanine Deckers, Joni Mitchell, lyrics, Poems, poetry, songs
Leave a comment
POETRY: IMAGE, SOUND, SENSE
I often mention the four approaches to verse: 1. The subject (the writer) treated subjectively (with the writer’s personal thoughts and opinions added); Example (Emily Dickinson): I died for beauty but was scarce Adjusted in the tomb, When one who … Continue reading
INTRODUCING “CHINESE-STYLE” POETRY WRITING
As readers know, I often use the ancient concept of the two opposite yet harmoniously-working elements of the universe, Yin and Yang, in explaining hokku. Jia Dao wrote: Asking the young boy beneath the pine, He says, “Master is off … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Chinese poetry, clouds, haikai, hokku, Jia Dao, mountains, nature, poetry, rivers, writing, zen
Leave a comment
THE BARE STONES OF HOKKU
Recently I had a pleasant dinner with a long-time friend. As we sat, we looked through an exhibit catalog of student work, the work being paintings in the Chinese manner. There were two styles — the spontaneous, which was largely … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Chinese art, haiku, hokku, nature, painting, poetry, writing
Leave a comment
FROM BELOW THE BRIDGE
Issa, whom we do not often use as a model, wrote this summer hokku: From below The bridge I creep across – A cuckoo! Though Issa says merely “bridge,” we can tell from his timid creeping across it that it is … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged cuckoo, haikai, hanging bridge, hokku, hototogisu, Issa, nature, poetry, summer, writing, zen
Leave a comment
SO?
The Germans have a great expression — “Na, und?” It is the equivalent of the American “So what?” — or more briefly, “So?” That should be our attitude toward those who like to argue and intellectualize about hokku. Suppose, for … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged haikai, hokku, nature, poetry, poverty, seasons, simplicity, transience, writing, zen
Leave a comment
HOKKU — AN OLD-FASHIONED WAY OF BEING NEW
I am always surprised and amazed by those who speak of hokku as though it were something outdated and to be discarded. The emphasis today is on “new,” “new,” “new” and “different,” “different, “different.” What people with such childish thinking … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Buson, downspout, haikai, hokku, June, newness, poetry, rain, Robert Frost, Thoreau, writing, zen
Leave a comment
A HOKKU IN FIVE WORDS
There is a summer hokku by Kikaku that requires very few words in English translation: Inazuma ya kinō wa higashi kyō wa nishi Lightning ya yesterday wa east today wa west. Lightning; Yesterday east, Today west. Even though … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged haikai, harmony of contrast, harmony of similarity, hokku, Kikaku, lightning, summer
Leave a comment
LEAVES SUDDENLY APPEAR
A summer hokku: Sunrise; Leaves suddenly appear On the paper screen. This too is a verse requiring a small intuitive leap. Why would leaves suddenly appear on a paper screen? Because the sun has just risen, casting shadows of plants … Continue reading
THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE
Today was beautiful where I am. After days and days of pouring rain and cool temperatures, the sky cleared, the sun shone, and the temperature rose into the low 80s. It made me think of the old lines from the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Buson, grove of trees, haikai, heat, hokku, nature, poetry, spiderwebs, statement hokku, summer, turtle, turtle dove, writing, Yang, zen
Leave a comment
ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY HOKKU
Sooner or later (I hope sooner) in the study of hokku, one begins to ask just what makes an extraordinary hokku. The question is inevitable because all of us, in our practice, are going to write lots of very ordinary … Continue reading
MUCH IN LITTLE
Etsujin wrote: How serenely they fall When the time comes – Poppy flowers. That is a “statement” hokku. A “statement” hokku makes a simple, true observation about something; it tells us something we already know but did not know we … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged "occasion" hokku, Etsujin, haiku, hokku, poppies, statement hokku, summer
Leave a comment
THERE’S A BELL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
Old hokku sometimes included historical, literary, or cultural allusions that make them very difficult for modern English-language readers to understand. As I have already explained, we say that such verses “Do not travel well.” That means they require so much … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged allusion, Bashô, bell, haiku, harmony of similarity, hokku, sea
Leave a comment
THIS FLOATING WORLD
A reader, having seen one of the hokku of Bashō, asked me exactly what is meant by the term “floating world.” Was Bashō in it? Are we in it? It all depends on the sense in which we understand the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged "floating world", autumn, Bashô, buckeye, chestnuts, chinese horse chestnuts, haikai, hokku, horse chestnuts, Kiso, ukiyo, World of Dust, World of Sorrow
Leave a comment
THE UNANSWERED QUESTION
In hokku aesthetics, we find that it often favors that which is undecided, undetermined, incomplete. We see that in two verses which superficially appear very different. The first is by Chora: The summer moon; On the other side of the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Chora, fallen bridge, question hokku, Shiki, summer moon, Taigi, Takaoka, unanswered question
Leave a comment
WHAT A SOUND
Taigi wrote: A summer shower; What a sound breaks out Atop the forest! The sound of which Taigi speaks is the sudden sound of countless drops of rain striking the countless leaves of the forest canopy. It is an awesome … Continue reading
HORSES AND HEAT WAVES
Those who read a posting here only now and then will learn little or nothing. Those who read here regularly, with attention, will gain over time a good understanding of the basic principles of hokku. For example, I recently discussed … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged clouds, cotton cloth, haikai, harmony of similarity, heat waves, hokku, Kyoroku, summer, summer colts, Tohō, white, Yang
Leave a comment
THOUGHT AND THE FRETTING BOY
I often mention the four approaches to verse: 1. The subject (the writer) treated subjectively (with the writer’s personal thoughts and opinions added); 2. The subject (the writer) treated objectively (without one’s personal thoughts and opinions added); 3. The object … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bashô, hokku, kites, Matsuo Bashō, nature, Old pond, poetry, rain, Reginald Horace Blyth, Shôha, subjectivity and objectivity, writing
Leave a comment
BASICS OF FORM AND PUNCTUATION
One cannot compose hokku without a form, and the form of English-language hokku is simple and practical. One need not worry about what it is to be because it already exists and serves quite well. A hokku in English consists … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged capitalization, form, haikai, hokku, Kikaku, poetry, punctuation, verse, writing
Leave a comment
