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 from the frost on the barley. It is like the weather where I am now — nights with temperatures dropping to the point of frost, but mornings that bring bright sunlight.
This poem is an excellent expression of beginning spring. In fact if we were to put it more fully into English according to the principles of English-language hokku, we could rephrase it thus:
Dawn:
Frost on the tip
Of the barley leaf.
In English hokku we do not need the word “spring,” because each verse being marked with the season, we need not repeat it.
More important, however, is understanding how this verse works, and for this we go back to the fundamentals of hokku, the basic knowledge of the elements of Yin and Yang.
Cold — frost — is Yin, and it is representative of winter. But the sprout of barley is young growth, which is growing Yang. Also, the dawn — the beginning of the day — is growing Yang, which is overcoming the Yin of night. So what we see in this verse is the first appearance of growing Yang both in the barley leaf and in the dawn, and the last lingering of Yin in the frost on the tip of the leaf that will soon be melted by the rising sun. In short, this is all about growing Yang overcoming Yin, which is precisely what spring is. And so this verse by Onitsura does precisely what it was intended to do — it manifests spring.
Compare such a verse, which is like a representation from the Book of Changes, with the mediocrity and self-centeredness of much of modern haiku, which has lost the spirit of old hokku and has forgotten the principles on which it was based.
It is important to remember, however, that when we read the hokku initially, we do not pause to analyze the elements; we just understand them instinctively, which is why the hokku is both simple and effective. But it is important both for writers and for readers of hokku to understand WHY it is effective, thus the need for explanation.
David
HOKKU 