On 10/14/06, kasper salonen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> oh man. there's so much I want to say to this, but it's too much.
> (I've been studying/reading/writing haiku for some two years now.)
> here are some _short_ replies (fitting, since this is about haiku).
>
> I take it by 'rigid form' you mean 5-7-5. this is a false rule,
> misinterpreted from the japanese. it is a guideline which works only
> for the japanese language; it fits its grammar, vocabulary,
> morphology. it doesn't fit those of english. if a haiku is written, in
> english, in lines of 5-7-5 syllables, the haiku will be far too long &
> too strained.
Thanks. This clears up a misunderstanding I had. So are there
rules/guidelines for Haiku in English?
> I suspect that you've read _bad_ haiku; it's
> understandbale that you'd feel put off. a haiku needs to be as short
> as it needs to be.
>
> you seem to equate haiku with zen; the former is influenced by the
> latter, but does not embody it. the haiku spirit is its own, small
> form of awareness.
>
> "...enough pressing issues in life.."
> but to someone who is open to them, small events in the natural world
> _are_ 'pressing issues'; or no. they are simply valuable, & deserving
> of a moment's look & pause. walk into a forest with an open eye &
> without a busy head, you'll see what I mean. it's not enough that you
> understand the _idea_ of appreciating the sight of a bird dropping a
> small spoon into a pond, the intent of haiku is to appreciate the
> event itself.
>
> I've put it in more depth in an essay I've long been writing (long,
> because I've needed to write it so that it is short enough to command
> but not stretch attention, & because I got tired of hearing myself
> talk about it & have been on a 6-or-so-month break from it), but I
> don't feel inclined to quote it here. Hal put it quite nicely. :)
>
> KS
>
> PS: actually, here are some _good_ haiku (i.e. well translated ones).
>
> A pear-tree in bloom
> in the moonlight,
> a woman reading a letter.
>
>
> The sound
> of a rat on a plateŻ
> how cold it is
>
>
> Tilling the field:
> the cloud that never moved
> is gone
>
> (Buson)
>
>
> O snail
> climb Mt Fuji,
> but slowly, slowly!
>
>
> New Year's presents;
> the baby in the bosom also
> holds out her tiny hands
>
>
> The snow is melting
> and the village is flooded
> with children
>
> (Issa)
>
Thanks Kasper. Those are good ones indeed. I find it more appealing now.
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