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Tag Archives: hokku
THE IMPORTANCE OF HERON LEGS: GRASPING THE ESSENCE OF AN EVENT
Buson wrote a pleasant summer hokku: An evening breeze; The water laps against The heron’s legs. R. H. Blyth made a very pertinent comment on this verse, a remark precisely in keeping the principles of modern hokku: “Buson’s intuitions are … Continue reading
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Tagged Buson, heron, hokku, nature, objectivity, poetry, R. H. Blyth, spirituality, summer, writing
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THREE VIEWS OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS
There is a famous spring hokku by Bashō: A cloud of blossoms – Is the bell Ueno? Asakusa? Through a cloud of blooming cherry trees, the writer hears the sound of a distant, unseen temple bell. He wonders if it … Continue reading
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Tagged cherry blossoms, hokku, nature, senryû, spring, writing
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KEEPING THE BEST, DISCARDING THE REST: GOOD TASTE IN HOKKU
Long-time readers here will recall that the hokku I teach is derived only from the best aspects of the old Japanese hokku — those that tend to objectivity, poverty, simplicity, and selflessness. That is why not everything one may find … Continue reading
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Tagged Bashô, hokku, Masaoka Shiki, Matsuo Bashō, poetry, Shiki
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IS HOKKU “NATURE VERSE,” OR “SEASON VERSE,” OR “TIME VERSE”?
I have recently seen the statement made that hokku is not Nature verse — that instead, it is “time verse,” with its foundation in the four seasons. The answer to that, of course, is that hokku is all of the above; … Continue reading
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Tagged butterfly, Henry David Thoreau, hokku, nature, season verse, seasons, Shôha, time-verese, Walden Pond, William Cullen Bryant, Zeitgedichte
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NEW BRIDGES AND SPONGING RELATIVES: HUMAN QUIRKS AND SENRYU
You will recall that in addition to hokku, there is another and visually very similar kind of verse called senryu. How does one tell a senryu from a hokku? First, senryu does not have a seasonal setting. Second, while hokku … Continue reading
THE LONG DAYS OF SPRING: BUSON AND SHIKI
There are some hokku that do not seem quite right but nonetheless have value for what they are. There is, for example, this spring verse by Buson: Osoki hi no tsumorite tōki mukashi kana Long day ‘s accumulating … Continue reading
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Tagged Buson, haiku, hokku, long spring days, R. H. Blyth, spring, Yosa Buson
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SPRING AND SUPERFICIALITY: DETERMINING DEPTH IN HOKKU
One of the most difficult things for the beginning student of hokku to grasp is the difference in what we might call “levels” of hokku. It is common for someone unfamiliar with the principles of hokku to read hundreds of … Continue reading
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Tagged Buson, depth in hokku, haiku, hokku, Otsuji, poetry, spring, writing
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MORNING LIGHT / LUMINE MATINAL
Winter: Morning light; Melting frost Drips from the trees. Hiberno: Lumine matinal; Gelo disgelante Ab le arbores gutta. How quickly time passes! Already more than half of January is gone, and in less than two weeks we shall be at … Continue reading
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Tagged Candlemas, frost, Gelo, hokku, Imbolc, January, Latino Moderne, nature, poetry, spring, writing
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KEEPING THE SEASON WELL
(I posted this some three years ago) Winter, as I have written earlier, is the most austere season of the year. Because of that, it is a time when contrasts have great significance — warmth amid cold, food amid hunger, … Continue reading
AUTUMN ENDING — WINTER BEGINNING
Autumn ends; Even the crows Are silent. David
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Tagged crows, early winter, hokku, late autumn, nature, poetry, seasons, spirituality, writing
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THE NARROW PATH: A HOKKU BY BUSON
As a writer of hokku, Buson had his flaws. He was sometimes too consciously literary, at others too obviously painterly (he was, after all, an artist). That is why numbers of his verses fail to quite make it as good … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, autumn leaves, Buson, colored leaves, fallen leaves, hokku, nature, poetry, seasons, spirituality, writing, Yosa Buson
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM KOBAYASHI ISSA
Issa wrote: Withered pampas grass; “Now once there was an old witch….” That verse does not come off quite the same in English, because of the term “pampas grass” that we must use for what Issa knew as susuki — … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, Cortaderia selloana, Halloween, hokku, Issa, Miscanthus sinensis, nature, pampas grass, poetry, seasons, writing
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RAIN BEATS ON RAIN
Gyōdai wrote one of the simplest and best hokku, which in my region would be an autumn verse: Ochiba ochikasanarite ame ame wo utsu Falling-leaves fall-pile up rain rain wo beats Leaves fall And pile up; Rain beats on rain. … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, Gyôdai, hokku, nature, poetry, R. H. Blyth, Reginald Horace Blyth, seasons, spirituality, writing
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THE SOUND OF WATER
Near and far – The sound of water, The falling leaves. (Variation on an old hokku by Bashō)
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Tagged autumn, Bashô, falling leaves, hokku, nature, poetry, spirituality, writing
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SUBTLE STATES OF MIND: THE REASON FOR HOKKU
As all regular readers here know, a hokku is a sensory event set in the context of a particular season. That is basic knowledge. But did you ever ask yourself why? What, after all, is the point of recording sensory, … Continue reading
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Tagged AUTUMN WILLOWS, Ch'an, Henry David Thoreau, hokku, nature, poetry, Ryūshi, seasons, spirituality, Transcendentalism, Wind in the Willows, writing, zen
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WHAT IS A FROG DOING IN AUTUMN?
As long-time readers here know, hokku is seasonal verse. Every verse is an event set in the context of a particular season. In old hokku (which was Japanese), this became too systematized, so that if one wrote about frogs, it … Continue reading
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Tagged frog, frogs, hokku, nature, poetry, R. H. Blyth, Reginald Horace Blyth, spring, verse, writing
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AUTUMN WILLOWS
Seibi has an interesting hokku that reminds one of Thoreau’s close observation of Nature: The morning sun; Already it penetrates The autumn willows. This is another of those verses in which meaning requires knowing the principles of hokku. We might … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, hokku, poetry, seasons, Seibi, spirituality, willows, writing
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OTHER PEOPLE’S AUTUMN
I often say here that Japanese hokku sometimes tends to a vagueness not found in English-language hokku. Some verses can be so unclear as to leave their meaning perpetually in doubt. Those are just bad hokku, in spite of the … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, fall, hokku, poetry, seasons, smoke, spirituality, Thoreau, vagueness, writing
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TRANSLATING LANGUAGE, TRANSLATING CULTURE
When we read or write hokku in English, we should be careful to avoid romanticism and exoticism, both of which lead us into illusions and fancy and away from the aesthetics appropriate to hokku. That is why, when I translate … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, Blyth, grass hut, hokku, kusa no to, old shack, poor house, poverty, Teiga, translation
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AUTUMN DREAMS, AUTUMN SNORES
A pleasant hokku for the early part of autumn is this by Suiō, in spite of its unconventional arrangement. The autumn night; Dreams and snores And grasshoppers chirring. It is evocative of the warm, drowsy, earlier part of autumn, when … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn hokku, dreams, grasshoppers, hokku, nature, poetry, snores, Suiō, writing
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AUTUMN-WINTER IN THE HOKKU YEAR
As I have written before, in hokku we make use of two calendars: First, there is the “natural” calendar, which varies depending on where one lives. For example, in my state, autumn comes earlier in the mountains than in the lowlands. … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn calendar, Equinox, hokku, hokku year, Lammas, nature, poetry, Samhain, writing, Yule
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UNTANGLING THE CONFUSING OF HOKKU WITH HAIKU
From time to time I like to remind readers that the careless use of the term “haiku” to describe what historically is really hokku is not only anachronistic but also irresponsible, inaccurate, and confusing. Here is a slightly modified earlier … Continue reading
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Tagged haiku, Haiku Society of America, haiku/hokku, History of Haiku, history of hokku, hokku, hokku and haiku, poetry, writing
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THE FOX BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
There is a kind of old hokku that I almost never discuss here. It belongs to the category of verses based on folk belief or myth. Even these verses have their seasonal connections. Here is one by Buson: Withered grasses; … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, Buson, fox spirits, hokku, kitsune, nature, poetry, writing
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ENTERING AUTUMN
Here is a timely repeat of an earlier posting: Summer is ending, autumn is beginning. I have already mentioned the transitional verse by Kyoroku that leads us into the season: August; First on the ears of millet – The autumn … Continue reading
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Tagged autumn, Bashô, Buson, fall, hokku, impermanence, Issa, Kyoroku, millet, morning glories, nature, poetry, spirituality, transience, writing
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THE BLACKBIRD OBSCURED: WALLACE STEVENS AND POETS OF PRIVATE LANGUAGE
Today I would like to talk briefly (you will soon see the reason for brevity) about what I call “poets of private language,” “PPLs” for short. A poet of private language is one who writes poetry that is often so obscure … Continue reading
WITHOUT NATURE IN BALANCE THERE IS NO HOKKU (OR PEOPLE)
I do not like to talk about politics here unless they affect the environment or free speech or freedom of and from religion. But I listened to the Romney speech last night and was appalled to hear no mention of concern … Continue reading
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Tagged climate change, Democrats, environment, fossil fuels, global warming, hokku, Mitt Romney, Republicans
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THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR: SUMMER’S END
Today there seems a great pause in the air, a quiet sense that we have come to a change: Summer’s end; Crows stalking about Silently. Every year I like to post this article again to mark that time when one … Continue reading
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Tagged hokku, Loren Eiseley, Marcel Pagnol, Natalie Babbitt, nature, poetry, seasons, summer's end, Tuck Everlasting, Wheel of the Year, writing
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BIG ANT, BIG HEAT: INTERNAL REFLECTION IN HOKKU
If one does not have an understanding of the basic principles of hokku, it is often difficult to appreciate a verse because one simply does not “get” it. This was a major factor in the rise of modern haiku in … Continue reading
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Tagged haiku, heat, hokku, internal reflection, nature, poetry, R. H. Blyth, seasons, Shirô, spirituality, summer, writing
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ABSENCE AND PRESENCE AND SUMMER HEAT
The windbell silent; The heat Of the clock. This summer hokku by Yayū is somewhat unusual, first because it includes a clock. We already know that “modern technology” is not a part of hokku, and if we allow ourselves to … Continue reading
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Tagged absence, clock, heat, hokku, poetry, presence, principles of hokku, seasons, spirituality, summer, summer hokku, windbell, writing, Yayu
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A LEAKY ROOF
A pleasant spring hokku by Bashō: Spring rain; A roof leak trickles Down the wasps’ nest. This reminds me of Blyth’s remark that to write hokku one should live in a house which either has a leaky roof or one with … Continue reading
Posted in Bashô
Tagged Bashô, hokku, poetry, R. H. Blyth, spirituality, spring, spring hokku, writing
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THE STRANGE TALE OF HOW AN EXCELLENT REVIEW BECAME A SCATHING REVIEW
Some of you, in looking about on the Internet, may have come across search topic headings like these: MH Book Review—David Coomler‘s HOKKU – Welcome to ModernHaiku http://www.modernhaiku.org/bookreviews/coomler2003.html Hokku: Writing Traditional Haiku in English: The Gift to be Simple, by David Coomler(Springfield, Ill … Review … Continue reading
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Tagged David Coomler, Haiku in English, Harold Gould Henderson, Harold Henderson, History of Haiku, history of hokku, hokku, hokku in English, MH, MH book review, Modern Haiku, Modern Haiku book review, poetry, Robert Spiess, William Higginson, William j. Higginson, writing
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THE SCENT OF — WELL, ACTUALLY THE JAPANESE APRICOT
Here are a few spring hokku by Bashō. I have divided all but the last into three parts: First, the romanized Japanese and a rather literal translation; second, a “formal” translation of the original; third, a rewritten “American” version. (M)ume … Continue reading
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Tagged allusion, Bashô, hokku, japanese verse, literary hokku, plum blossoms, spring, ume, ume ga ka, writing
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CAT DANCING
Issa wrote: Harusame ya neko ni odori wo oshieru ko Spring rain ya cat with dance wo teaches child Spring rain; The little girl teaches the cat To dance. The little girl, unable to go out and play, has inflicted herself on the cat, … Continue reading
“GETTING” R. H. BLYTH
If you want to understand what R. H. Blyth meant by connecting Zen and hokku, it can be stated very simply. To Blyth, Zen was the elimination of the boundary between self and other, between subject and object. I have … Continue reading
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Tagged hokku, nature, poetry, R. H. Blyth, spring, writing, zen
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THE BASICS OF HOKKU AESTHETICS
In a previous posting, you will recall, I said that one may have a verse in the outward form of a hokku, with everything in it correct, and still not have a hokku. That is because to be a real … Continue reading
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Tagged change, hokku, hokku aesthetics, naturalness, poetry, poverty, simplicity, time, transience, writing
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THE SPRING HOKKU CALENDAR
Because the practice of hokku is so intimately connected with the seasons, I like to regularly remind readers where we are in the “old” hokku calendar in its traditional Western version, the Wheel of the Year, which very closely approximates … Continue reading
