Monthly Archives: February 2011

WRIGHT OR WRONG?

Posted on February 26, 2011 by

The automatic statistics of this site tell me that frequently people come here hoping to see something illuminating about the “haiku” of Richard Wright — just why, I am not certain, given that this site favors hokku and generally considers … Continue reading →

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THE THING IT IS AND THE THING IT ISN’T

Posted on February 25, 2011 by

Long-time readers here will recall that I have discussed the issue of metaphor and simile and their relation (if any) to hokku.  I have pointed out that what readers — even presumably scholarly readers — find as metaphor in hokku … Continue reading →

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ARSENIC-SMEARED HAIKU

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

I often say that modern haiku, for all practical purposes, began in the middle of the 20th century as a result of the misunderstanding and misperception of the hokku by Western writers and academics.  They saw the hokku through the … Continue reading →

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TO EVERY THING THERE IS A SEASON

Posted on February 20, 2011 by

Unlike most other kinds of verse, the hokku is linked with the season in which it is written.  In fact one can say truthfully that whatever the obvious subject of a hokku, the real subject is the season in which … Continue reading →

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THROUGH THE BARLEY

Posted on February 18, 2011 by

Mokudō wrote a very simple yet very effective spring hokku: Harukaze ya   mugi no naka yuku   mizu no oto Spring wind ya barley ‘s center goes water ‘s sound I give the Japanese transliteration only to show how … Continue reading →

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WHY HAIKU FAILED AND CONTINUES TO FAIL

Posted on February 13, 2011 by

In his useful book Poetic Meter and Poetic Form (University of Pennsylvania, 1979, 1965), Paul Fussell writes: “An even more exotic version of the tercet is the haiku (or hokku) ….  Playing around with it in English is surely as … Continue reading →

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WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Posted on February 13, 2011 by

Someone expressed the view to me recently that the haiku and tanka “communities” are strongly biased against any traditional approach.  By “communities,” he means of course those people who gather on the Internet or in publications to share and read … Continue reading →

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GROWING YANG IN ONITSURA

Posted on February 10, 2011 by

I have discussed this early spring hokku by Onitsura previously, but I would like to deepen what was already said a bit: Dawn;On the tip of the barley leaf,Spring frost. It is obvious that this is an early spring hokku … Continue reading →

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SPRING BEGINS

Posted on February 7, 2011 by

It may seem odd to some readers that I have begun to write of Spring, but where I live that is what is happening. Spring begins with the very weakest of Yang energies that melt snow and ice and sprout … Continue reading →

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IMBOLC: THE FIRST HINTS OF SPRING

Posted on February 3, 2011 by

This year Imbolc came appropriately where I am, with a day of cold air but brilliant sunlight.  Imbolc in the old calendar is the beginning of spring, and so it is associated with the growing Yang energies, expressed symbolically in … Continue reading →

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