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Tag Archives: Modern Haiku
AUTUMN BEGINS: INCLINING TOWARD THE TRANQUILITY OF HOKKU
In previous postings I have discussed the relationship between Zen and hokku (yes, there is one). Today I would like to talk briefly about where Zen and hokku differ. First, Zen is more inclusive than hokku. Hokku deliberately restricts its … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Aki chikaki, autumn, autumn hokku, Bashô, haiku, Modern Haiku, nature, poetry, R. H. Blyth, tea ceremony, teahouse, 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
Posted in Uncategorized
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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AVOIDING HOKKU AND HAIKU AS “RELIGIOUS” FUNDAMENTALISM
Every now and then, I like to clarify my approach to the hokku — that is, to teaching the writing of new hokku — for readers who may be novices here. As many of you know, I have been teaching … Continue reading
Posted in Bashô, Uncategorized
Tagged Bashô, Buson, haiku, hokku, Issa, Japanese haiku, Japanese hokku, Japanese poetry, Modern Haiku, nature, poetry, Reginald Horace Blyth, writing, writing hokku
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DROPPING CAMELLIAS AND “EXPLANDED” TRANSLATIONS
I wrote yesterday of R. H. Blyth and his method of translating hokku. He wrote six volumes of such translations, nearly all of which had to do with hokku, though he used the terminology of the Japan of his day … Continue reading
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Tagged camellias, Dansui, hazy moon, hokku, Modern Haiku, poetry, R. H. Blyth, spring, translation, writing
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HOKKU AND MODERN HAIKU: THE APPLE AND THE PULP
As I never cease repeating here, it is extremely important not to confuse hokku and haiku. People in the modern haiku community like to pretend, for some reason, that it is not true; they like to say that haiku is … Continue reading
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Tagged haiku, hokku, Masaoka Shiki, Modern Haiku, modern hokku, poetry, seasons, writing
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SEEN FROM THE HOKKU MIND
I hope that readers here have begun to realize from my postings that the hokku is quite different from the modern haiku. In general, a modern haiku is just a verse of some kind written in three lines. It might … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged autumn, hokku, internal reflection, Modern Haiku, poetry, seasons, spirituality, wind, windbell, writing
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RICHARD WRIGHT: THE WRONG PATH TAKEN
In my previous posting I skimmed over the topic of Richard Wright and his attempts at writing what he called “haiku.” Here I shall add just a bit to what was already said. In my view Wright’s “haiku” are useful … Continue reading
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Tagged haiku, Haiku: This Other World, hokku, Masaoka Shiki, Modern Haiku, poetry, Reginald Horace Blyth, Richard Wright, seasons, writing
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TO EVERY THING THERE IS A SEASON
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bashô, haikai, haiku, hokku, kidai, kigo, Masaoka Shiki, Modern Haiku, nature, Old pond, poetry, saijiki, season book, season subjects, season words, seasons, Shiki, writing
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WHY HAIKU FAILED AND CONTINUES TO FAIL
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
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
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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Tagged Free verse, Haiku in English, hokku, Masaoka Shiki, Modern Haiku, poetry, William Blake, William Higginson, writing
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HOKKU IS NOT HAIKU, AND VICE-VERSA
From time to time I like to remind people why I use historically-accurate terminology here, instead of the inaccurate, anachronistic, and very misleading and confusing term “haiku.” Bashō called what he wrote hokku, as a part of his practice of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bashô, haikai, haiku, hokku, Masaoka Shiki, Modern Haiku, poetry, Shiki, writing
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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
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
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bashô, change, haikai, haiku, hokku, Modern Haiku, Shiki
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THE ESSENCE OF THE MATTER
I have never been an admirer of Confucius, yet one can say of the teaching of hokku what Confucius said: “The Master said, “Do you think, my disciples, that I have any concealments? I conceal nothing from you. There is … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Confucius, haikai, haiku, hokku, Modern Haiku, Mokudô
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FAILURE OF TRANSMISSION
It is interesting to note that the term haiku did not begin to catch on in the West until the middle of the 1900s. Prior to that time, when Americans or Europeans spoke of the brief Japanese verse form, they … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Amy Lowell, Basil Hall Chamberlain, Ezra Pound, haikai, haiku, Harold Henderson, hokku, Masaoka Shiki, Modern Haiku, R. H. Blyth
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ENDING THE CONFUSION ABOUT HOKKU, HAIKU, AND ZEN
Here – for convenience — I have combined several earlier articles explaining how Western haiku enthusiasts thoroughly confused hokku and haiku in the 20th century, completely misunderstanding not only hokku but its connection to “Zen,” and thoroughly misleading the public … Continue reading
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Tagged anachronism, Bashô, confusion, haikai, haiku, hokku, inaccuracy, Mahayana, misrepresentation, Modern Haiku, Onitsura, Shiki, zen
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ALWAYS SEEKING SOMETHING…
People sometimes tell me that the fragmentation and constant change and bickering one sees in modern haiku (in contrast to hokku) are a sign of vitality and creativity. Not surprisingly, I do not at all see it that way. Instead … Continue reading
THE 20TH-CENTURY HIJACKING OF HOKKU
Over the years I have written about how hokku was hijacked in the middle of the 20th century by the haiku movement in the West. One could write a sizable volume on the history of how that took place and … Continue reading
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Tagged Bashô, haikai, haiku, hokku, Modern Haiku, Onitsura, Taigi
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WHAT IS IN A NAME?
Continuing the thought of the previous posting, what does it matter whether we call the verse we write hokku, or haiku, or even something else, if it is good, passionate verse? It matters very much indeed. Aside from the simple … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bashô, haikai, haiku, hokku, Modern Haiku, nature, poetry, writing, zen
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