Japan is a country with a very unique culture. Its formation was greatly facilitated by the features geographical location and geological factors. The Japanese were able to settle in the valleys and coasts, but they constantly suffer from typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Therefore, it is not surprising that their national consciousness deifies natural forces, and poetic thought strives to penetrate into the very essence of things. This desire is embodied in laconic forms of art.
Features of Japanese poetry
Before considering examples of haiku, it is necessary to pay attention to the peculiarities of the country’s art rising sun. This brevity is expressed in different ways. It is also characteristic of the Japanese garden with its empty space, and origami, and works of painting and poetry. The main principles in the art of the Land of the Rising Sun are naturalness, understatement, and minimalism.
In Japanese, words don't rhyme. Therefore, the poetry familiar to the average person in our country could not emerge in this language. However, the Land of the Rising Sun gave the world no less wonderful works called haiku. Wisdom is hidden in them eastern people, his unsurpassed ability to know through natural phenomena the meaning of being and the essence of man himself.
Haiku - the poetic art of the Land of the Rising Sun
The careful attitude of the Japanese towards their past, towards the heritage of antiquity, as well as strict adherence to the rules and norms of versification, turned haiku into a genuine art form. In Japan, haiku is separate type skills - for example, like the art of calligraphy. It found its true capacity in late XVII century. The famous Japanese man managed to raise it to an unsurpassed height poet Matsuo Basho.
The person portrayed in the poem is always against the backdrop of nature. Haiku is intended to convey and show phenomena, but not to name them directly. These short poems are sometimes called "pictures of nature" in the art of poetry. It is no coincidence that artistic canvases were also created for haiku.
Size
Many readers wonder how to write haiku. Examples of these poems show: haiku is a short work that consists of only three lines. In this case, the first line should contain five syllables, the second - seven, the third - also five. For centuries haiku have been the main poetic form. Brevity, semantic capacity and mandatory appeal to nature are the main characteristics of this genre. In reality, there are many more rules for adding haiku. It’s hard to believe, but in Japan the art of composing such miniatures has been taught for decades. And painting lessons were also added to these activities.
The Japanese also understand haiku as a work consisting of three phrases of 5, 7, 5 syllables. The difference in the perception of these poems different peoples is that in other languages they are usually written in three lines. In Japanese they are written on one line. And before they could be seen written from top to bottom.
Haiku poems: examples for children
Often schoolchildren receive homework assignments to learn or compose haiku. These short poems easy to read and quick to remember. This is demonstrated by the following example of haiku (2nd grade - too early time, to take Japanese poetry, but if necessary, students can refer to this tercet):
The sun is setting
And cobwebs too
Melting in the darkness...
The author of this laconic poem is Basho. Despite the capacity of the tercet, the reader must use his imagination and partially participate in the creative work of the Japanese poet. The following haiku is also written by Basho. In it, the poet depicts the carefree life of a little bird:
In free meadows
The lark bursts into song
Without work and worries...
Kigo
Many readers are wondering how to write haiku in Russian. Examples of these tercets show that one of the main features of this genre of poetry is the correlation internal state person with the time of year. This rule can also be used when composing your own haiku. The rules of classical versification required the use of a special “seasonal” word - kigo. It is a word or phrase that indicates the season described in the poem.
For example, the word "snow" would indicate winter. The phrase “Hazy moon” may indicate the onset of spring. Mention of sakura (Japanese cherry tree) will also indicate spring. The word kinge - “goldfish” - will indicate that the poet depicts summer in his poem. This custom of using kigo came into the haiku genre from other forms. However, these words also help the poet choose laconic words and give the meaning of the work even greater depth.
The following haiku example will tell about summer:
The sun is shining.
The birds became quiet at noon.
Summer has come.
And after reading the following Japanese tercet, you can understand that the season being described is spring:
Cherry blossoms.
Dali was shrouded in fog.
Dawn has arrived.
Two parts in a tercet
One more characteristic feature haiku is the use of the "cutting word", or kireji. For this purpose, Japanese poets used various words- for example, I, Kana, Carey. However, they are not translated into Russian because they have a very vague meaning. In essence, they represent a kind of semantic mark that divides the tercet into two parts. When translating into other languages, a dash or an exclamation point is usually placed instead of the kireji.
Deviation from the generally accepted norm
There are always artists or poets who strive to break generally accepted, classical rules. The same goes for writing haiku. If the standard for writing these tercets presupposes a 5-7-5 structure, the use of “cutting” and “seasonal” words, then at all times there have been innovators who in their creativity sought to ignore these instructions. There is an opinion that haiku, which do not have a seasonal word, should be classified as senryu - humorous tercets. However, such a categorization does not take into account the existence of flour - haiku, in which there is no indication of the season, and which simply does not need it to reveal its meaning.
Haiku without a seasonal word
Let's look at an example of haiku that can be classified in this group:
The cat is walking
Along the city street
The windows are open.
Here, the indication of what time of year the animal left home is not important - the reader can observe the picture of the cat leaving home, completing the complete picture in his imagination. Maybe something happened at home that the owners didn’t pay attention to. open window, and the cat slipped into it and went for a long walk. Maybe the owner of the house is anxiously waiting for her four-legged pet to return. IN in this example haiku does not necessarily need to indicate the season to describe feelings.
Is there always a hidden meaning in Japanese tercets?
Considering various examples haiku, you can see the simplicity of these tercets. Many of them lack hidden meaning. They describe ordinary natural phenomena perceived by the poet. The following example of haiku in Russian, authored by the famous Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, describes a picture of nature:
On a dead branch
The raven turns black.
Autumn evening.
This is how haiku differs from Western poetic tradition. Many of them have no hidden meaning, but reflect the true principles of Zen Buddhism. In the West, it is customary to fill every thing with hidden symbolism. This meaning is not found in the following example of nature haiku, also written by Basho:
I'm walking along the path up the mountain.
ABOUT! How wonderful!
Violet!
General and specific in haiku
It is known that the Japanese people have a cult of nature. In the Land of the Rising Sun, the surrounding world is treated in a completely special way - for its inhabitants, nature is a separate spiritual world. In haiku, the motive of the universal connection of things is manifested. Specific things that are described in tercets are always connected with the general cycle; they become part of a series of endless changes. Even the four seasons of the year are divided by Japanese poets into shorter subseasons.
First drop
It fell from the sky onto my hand.
Autumn is approaching.
James Hackett, who was one of the most influential Western writers of haiku, believed that these tercets convey feelings “as they are.” And this is precisely what is characteristic of Basho’s poetry, which shows spontaneity current moment. Hackett gives following tips, following which you can write your own haiku:
- The source of the poem must be life itself. They can and should describe daily events that at first glance seem ordinary.
- When composing haiku, one should contemplate nature in the immediate vicinity.
- It is necessary to identify yourself with what is described in the tercet.
- It is always better to think alone.
- It's better to use simple language.
- It is advisable to mention the time of year.
- Haiku should be simple and clear.
Hackett also said that anyone who wants to create beautiful haiku should remember the words of Basho: “Haiku is a finger that points to the moon.” If this finger is decorated with rings, then the attention of the audience will be focused on these jewelry, and not on heavenly body. The finger does not need any decoration. In other words, various rhymes, metaphors, similes and other literary devices are unnecessary in haiku.
BASHO (1644–1694)
Evening bindweed
I'm captured...Motionless
I stand in oblivion.
There's such a moon in the sky,
Like a tree cut down to the roots:
The fresh cut turns white.
A yellow leaf floats.
Which shore, cicada,
What if you wake up?
Willow is bent over and sleeping.
And, it seems to me, a nightingale on a branch -
This is her soul.
How the autumn wind whistles!
Then only you will understand my poems,
When you spend the night in the field.
And I want to live in autumn
To this butterfly: drinks hastily
There is dew from the chrysanthemum.
Oh, wake up, wake up!
Become my comrade
Sleeping moth!
The jug burst with a crash:
At night the water in it froze.
I woke up suddenly.
Stork nest in the wind.
And underneath - beyond the storm -
Cherry is a calm color.
Long day long
Sings - and doesn’t get drunk
Lark in spring.
Over the expanse of fields -
Not tied to the ground by anything -
The lark is ringing.
It's raining in May.
What is this? Has the rim on the barrel burst?
The sound is unclear at night.
Pure spring!
Up ran up my leg
Little crab.
Today is a clear day.
But where do the drops come from?
There is a patch of clouds in the sky.
It's like I took it in my hands
Lightning when in the dark
You lit a candle.
How fast the moon flies!
On motionless branches
Drops of rain hung.
Oh no, ready
I won't find any comparisons for you,
Three day month!
Hanging motionless
Dark cloud in half the sky...
Apparently he's waiting for lightning.
Oh, how many of them there are in the fields!
But everyone blooms in their own way -
This is the highest feat of a flower!
I wrapped my life around
Around suspension bridge
This wild ivy.
Spring is leaving.
The birds are crying. Fish eyes
Full of tears.
Garden and mountain in the distance
Trembling, moving, entering
In a summer open house.
May rains
The waterfall was buried -
They filled it with water.
Summer herbs
Where the heroes disappeared
Like a dream.
Islands... Islands...
And it splits into hundreds of fragments
Sea of a summer day.
Silence all around.
Penetrate into the heart of the rocks
Voices of cicadas.
Tide Gate.
Washes the heron up to its chest
Cool sea.
Small perches are dried
On the branches of a willow... How cool!
Fishing huts on the shore.
Wet, walking in the rain,
But this traveler is worthy of song too,
Not only hagi are in bloom.
Farewell poems
I wanted to write on the fan -
It broke in my hand.
where the bell once sank
Where are you, moon, now?
Like a sunken bell
She disappeared to the bottom of the sea.
A secluded house.
Moon... Chrysanthemums... In addition to them
A patch of small field.
In a mountain village
The nuns story
About previous service at court...
There is deep snow all around.
Mossy gravestone.
Under it - is it in reality or in a dream? –
A voice whispers prayers.
The dragonfly is spinning...
Can't get a hold
For stalks of flexible grass.
The bell fell silent in the distance,
But the scent of evening flowers
Its echo floats.
Falls with a leaf...
No, look! Halfway there
The firefly flew up.
Fisherman's hut.
Mixed up in a pile of shrimp
Lonely cricket.
Sick goose dropped
On the field on a cold night.
A lonely dream on the way.
Even a wild boar
Will spin you around and take you with you
This winter whirlwind field!
sad me
Give me more sadness,
Cuckoos distant call!
I clapped my hands loudly.
And where the echo sounded,
The summer moon is growing pale.
On the night of the full moon
A friend sent me a gift
Risu, I invited him
To visit the moon itself.
Of great antiquity
There's a whiff... The garden near the temple
Covered with fallen leaves.
So easy, so easy
Floated out - and in the cloud
The moon thought.
White fungus in the forest.
Some unknown leaf
It stuck to his hat.
Dewdrops sparkle.
But they have a taste of sadness,
Don't forget!
That's right, this cicada
Are you all drunk? –
One shell remains.
The leaves have fallen.
The whole world is one color.
Only the wind hums.
Trees were planted in the garden.
Quietly, quietly, to encourage them,
Autumn rain whispers.
So that the cold whirlwind
Give them the aroma, they open up again
Late autumn flowers.
Rocks among cryptomerias!
How I sharpened their teeth
Winter cold wind!
Everything was covered with snow.
Lonely old woman
In a forest hut.
Planting rice
I didn’t have time to take my hands away,
Like a spring breeze
Settled in a green sprout.
All the excitement, all the sadness
Of your troubled heart
Give it to the flexible willow.
She closed her mouth tightly
Sea shell.
Unbearable heat!
In memory of the poet Tojun
Stayed and left
Bright moon... Stayed
Table with four corners.
Seeing a painting for sale
works by Kano Motonobu
...Brushes by Motonobu himself!
How sad is the fate of your masters!
The twilight of the year is approaching.
Under the open umbrella
I make my way through the branches.
Willows in the first down.
From the sky of its peaks
Only river willows
It's still raining.
Saying goodbye to friends
The ground disappears from under your feet.
I grab onto a light ear...
The moment of separation has arrived.
Transparent Waterfall…
Fell into a light wave
Pine needle.
Hanging in the sun
Cloud... Across it -
Migratory birds.
Autumn darkness
Broken and driven away
Conversation of friends.
Death Song
I got sick on the way.
And everything runs, my dream circles
Through scorched fields.
A strand of dead mother's hair
If I take her in my hands,
It will melt - my tears are so hot! –
Autumn frost of hair.
Spring morning.
Over every nameless hill
Transparent haze.
I'm walking along a mountain path.
Suddenly I felt at ease for some reason.
Violets in the thick grass.
On a mountain pass
To the capital - there, in the distance -
Half the sky remains...
Snow clouds.
She is only nine days old.
But both fields and mountains know:
Spring has come again.
Where it once stood
buddha statue
Cobwebs above.
I see the image of Buddha again
At the foot of the empty.
Soaring larks above
I sat down to rest in the sky -
On the very ridge of the pass.
Visiting Nara City
On Buddha's birthday
He was born
Little deer.
Where it flies
The pre-dawn cry of the cuckoo,
What's there? - Distant island.
Flute Sanemori
Sumadera Temple.
I hear the flute playing by itself
In the dark thicket of trees.
KORAI (1651–1704)
How is this, friends?
A man looks at the cherry blossoms
And on his belt is a long sword!
On the death of a younger sister
Alas, in my hand,
Weakening unnoticeably,
My firefly went out.
ISSE (1653–1688)
Seen everything in the world
My eyes are back
To you, white chrysanthemums.
RANSETSU (1654–1707)
autumn moon
Painting a pine tree with ink
In blue skies.
Flower... And another flower...
This is how the plum blossoms,
This is how warmth comes.
I looked at midnight:
Changed direction
Heavenly river.
KIKAKU (1661–1707)
Midge light swarm
Flies upward - floating bridge
For my dream.
A beggar is on the way!
In the summer all his clothes are
Heaven and earth.
To me at dawn in a dream
My mother has come... Don't drive her away
With your cry, cuckoo!
How beautiful your fish are!
But if only, old fisherman,
You could try them yourself!
Paid tribute
Earthly and fell silent,
Like the sea on a summer day.
JOSO (1662–1704)
And fields and mountains -
The snow quietly stole everything...
It immediately became empty.
Moonlight is pouring from the sky.
Hid in the shadow of the idol
Blinded Owl.
ONITSURA (1661–1738)
No place for water from the vat
Spit it out for me now...
Cicadas are singing everywhere!
TIYO (1703–1775)
During the night the bindweed entwined itself
Around the tub of my well...
I'll get some water from my neighbor!
To the death of a little son
O my dragonfly catcher!
Far into the unknown distance
Did you run in today?
Full moon night!
Even the birds didn't lock it up
Doors in their nests.
Dew on saffron flowers!
It will spill onto the ground
And it will become simple water...
O bright moon!
I walked and walked to you,
And you are still far away.
Only their screams can be heard...
Egrets are invisible
In the morning on fresh snow.
Plum spring color
Gives its aroma to a person...
The one who broke the branch.
KAKEI (1648–1716)
The autumn storm is raging!
Barely born month
He's about to sweep it out of the sky.
SICO (1665–1731)
ABOUT Maple leaves!
You burn your wings
Flying birds.
BUSON (1716–1783)
From this willow
The evening twilight begins.
Road in the field.
Here they come out of the box...
How could I forget your faces?..
It's time for holiday dolls.
Heavy bell.
And at its very edge
A butterfly is dozing.
Only the top of Fuji
They didn’t bury themselves
Young leaves.
Cool breeze.
Leaving the bells
The evening bell floats.
Old well in the village.
The fish rushed after the midge...
A dark splash in the depths.
Thunderstorm shower!
It barely clings to the grass
A flock of sparrows.
The moon shines so brightly!
Suddenly came across me
The blind man laughed...
"The storm has begun!" –
Robber on the road
Warned me.
The cold penetrated to the heart:
On the crest of the deceased wife
I stepped in the bedroom.
I hit with an ax
And froze... What a scent
There was a whiff of air in the winter forest!
To the west is moonlight
Moving. Shadows of flowers
They are going east.
The summer night is short.
Sparkled on the caterpillar
Drops of dawn dew.
KITO (1741–1789)
I met a messenger on the way.
Spring wind playing
The open letter rustles.
Thunderstorm shower!
Dropped Dead
The horse comes to life.
You're walking on the clouds
And suddenly on a mountain path
Through the rain - cherry blossoms!
ISSA (1768–1827)
This is how the pheasant screams
It's like he opened it
The first star.
Staal winter snow.
Light up with joy
Even the faces of the stars.
There are no strangers between us!
We are all each other's brothers
Under the cherry blossoms.
Look, nightingale
Sings the same song
And in the face of the gentlemen!
Passing wild goose!
Tell me your wanderings
How old were you when you started?
O cicada, don't cry!
There is no love without separation
Even for the stars in the sky.
The snow has melted -
And suddenly the whole village is full
Noisy kids!
Oh, don't trample the grass!
There were fireflies shining
Yesterday at night sometimes.
The moon has come out
And the smallest bush
Invited to the celebration.
That's right, in a previous life
You were my sister
Sad cuckoo...
Tree - for felling...
And the birds carefree
They're building a nest there!
Don't quarrel along the way,
Help each other like brothers
Migratory birds!
To the death of a little son
Our life is a dewdrop.
Let just a drop of dew
Our life - and yet...
Oh, if only there was an autumn whirlwind
He brought so many fallen leaves,
To warm the hearth!
Quietly, quietly crawl,
Snail, along the slope of Fuji
Up to the very heights!
In thickets of weeds,
Look how beautiful they are
Butterflies are born!
I punished the child
But he tied him to a tree there,
Where the cool wind blows.
Sad world!
Even when the cherry blossoms...
Even then…
So I knew in advance
That they are beautiful, these mushrooms,
Killing people!
Haiku is a style of classical Japanese waka lyric poetry that has been popular since the 16th century.
Features and examples of haiku
This type of poetry, then called haiku, became a separate genre in the 16th century; current name this style received in the 19th century thanks to the poet Masaoka Shiki. The most famous poet haiku is recognized all over the world Matsuo Basho.
How enviable is their fate!
North of the busy world
The cherries have blossomed in the mountains!
Autumn darkness
Broken and driven away
Conversation of friends
The structure and stylistic features of the haiku (hoku) genre
The present Japanese haiku represents 17 syllables that form one column of hieroglyphs. With special delimiting words kireji (Japanese “cutting word”) - the haiku verse is broken in the proportion 12:5 on the 5th syllable, or on the 12th.
Haiku in Japanese (Basho):
かれ朶に烏の とまりけり 秋の暮
Karaeda nikarasu no tomarikeri aki no kure
On a bare branch
Raven sits alone.
Autumn evening.
When translating haiku poems into languages Western countries The kireji is replaced by a line break, so the haiku takes the form of a tercet. Among haiku, it is very rare to find verses consisting of two lines, composed in a ratio of 2:1. Modern haiku, which are composed in Western languages, usually include less than 17 syllables, while haiku written in Russian can be longer.
In the original haiku special meaning has an image associated with nature, which is compared with human life. The verse denotes the time of year using the necessary seasonal word kigo. Haiku are written only in the present tense: the author writes about his personal feelings about the event that just happened. Classic haiku does not have a name and does not use artistic and expressive means common in Western poetry (for example, rhyme), but it does use some special moves, created by the national poetry of Japan. The skill of creating haiku poetry lies in the art of describing your feeling or moment of life in three lines. IN Japanese tercet every word and every image counts, they have great meaning and value. The basic rule of haiku is to express all your feelings using a minimum of words.
In haiku collections, each verse is often placed on an individual page. This is done so that the reader can concentrate, without haste, to experience the atmosphere of the haiku.
Photograph of a haiku in Japanese
haiku video
Video with examples of Japanese poetry about sakura.
To those who are familiar with this genre, please adjust it to the standard of the RULES.
And the first lines of haiku came to mind:
Poetry is beautiful
I take a shovel and plant cacti
The aroma of flowers lifts the soul to heaven
And the first class will be “taught” by James W. Hackett (b. 1929; student and friend of Blyth, the most influential Western haijin, championing “Zen haiku” and “haiku of the present moment.” According to Hackett, haiku is the intuitive feeling of “things as they are", and this, in turn, corresponds to the manner of Basho, who introduced the importance of the immediacy of the present moment into haiku. For Hacket, haiku is what he called "the path of living awareness" and "the value of every moment of life") .
Hackett's twenty (now famous) suggestions for writing haiku
(translation from English by Olga Hooper):
1. The source of haiku is life.
2. Ordinary, daily events.
3. Contemplate nature in close proximity.
Of course, not only nature. But haiku is first and foremost nature, natural world around us, and only then - we are in this world. That’s why it’s said, “nature.” A human feelings will be visible and tangible precisely through showing the life of the natural world.
4. Identify yourself with what you are writing about.
5. Think alone.
6. Depict nature as it is.
7. Don’t always try to write in 5-7-5.
Even Basho broke the 17 syllable rule. Secondly, the Japanese syllable and the Russian syllable are completely different in content and duration. Therefore, when writing (not in Japanese) or translating haiku, the 5-7-5 formula may be violated. The number of lines is also optional - 3. It can be 2 or 1. The main thing is not the number of syllables or stanzas, but the SPIRIT OF HAIKU - which is achieved correct construction images
8. Write in three lines.
9. Use ordinary language.
10. Assume.
To assume means not to express it completely and completely, but to leave something for further construction (by the reader). Since haiku are so short, it is impossible to paint a picture in all the details, but rather the main details can be given, and the reader can guess the rest based on what is given. We can say that in haiku only external features objects are drawn, only the most important (at that moment) characteristics of the thing/phenomenon are indicated - and the rest is completed by the readers themselves in their imagination... Therefore, by the way, haiku needs a trained reader
11. Mention the time of year.
12. Haiku are intuitive.
13. Don't miss the humor.
14. Rhyme is distracting.
15. Life to the fullest.
16. Clarity.
17. Read your haiku out loud.
18. Simplify!
19. Let the haiku rest.
20. Remember Blyce’s admonition that “haiku is a finger pointing to the moon.”
According to the recollections of Basho's students, he once made the following comparison: haiku is a finger pointing to the moon. If a bunch of jewelry glitters on your finger, then the viewer's attention will be distracted by these jewelry. For the finger to show the Moon itself, it does not need any decorations, because without them, the audience's attention will be directed exactly to the point at which the finger points.
This is what Hackett reminds us of: haiku does not need any decorations in the form of rhyme, metaphors, animation of natural things and phenomena, comparing them with something in human relations, comments or ratings of the author, etc. similar to “rings on a finger pointing to the moon.” The finger must be “clean”, so to speak. Haiku is pure poetry.
Write haiku! And your life will become brighter!
Haiku (sometimes haiku) are short poems without rhyme that use sensory language to express emotion and imagery. Haiku are often inspired by natural elements, moments of beauty and harmony or experiences powerful emotions. The genre of haiku poetry was created in Japan, and later began to be used by poets all over the world, including Russia. After reading this article, you can become more familiar with haiku and also learn how to compose haiku yourself.
Steps
Understanding the structure of haiku
- Syllables in Russian can consist of various quantities letters, unlike Japanese, in which almost all syllables same length. Therefore, a haiku of 17 syllables in Russian may turn out to be much longer than a similar Japanese one, thus violating the concept of deeply describing an image with several sounds. As stated, the 5-7-5 form is no longer considered mandatory, however, school curriculum it is not specified, and most students learn haiku based on conservative standards.
- If, when writing a haiku, you cannot decide on the number of syllables, then turn to Japanese rule, according to which haiku should be read in one sitting. This means that the length of a haiku in Russian can vary from 6 to 16 syllables. For example, read Kobayashi Issa’s haiku translated by V. Markova:
- Oh, don't trample the grass! There were fireflies shining Yesterday at night sometimes.
-
Use haiku to contrast two ideas. Japanese word Kira, which means cutting, serves to denote very important principle breaking the haiku into two parts. These parts should not depend on each other grammatically and figuratively.
- IN Japanese Haiku are often written on a single line, with the juxtaposing ideas separated by kireji, or a cutting word that helps define ideas, the relationship between them and give the poem grammatical completeness. Usually kireji is placed at the end of a sound phrase. Due to the lack direct transfer, kireji in Russian it is indicated by a dash, ellipsis, or simply by meaning. Notice how Buson separated the two ideas in one of his haiku:
- I hit with an ax and froze... What a scent wafted through the winter forest!
- In Russian, haiku is usually written in three lines. The compared ideas (of which there should be no more than two) are “cut” by the end of one line and the beginning of another, or by punctuation marks, or simply by a space. Here's what it looks like using the Russian translation of Buson's haiku as an example:
- Plucked a peony - And I stand as if lost. Evening hour
- One way or another, the main thing is to create a transition between the two parts, as well as to deepen the meaning of the poem by adding the so-called “internal comparison”. Successfully creating such a two-part structure is one of the most complex tasks when composing haiku. After all, for this it is necessary not only to avoid too obvious, banal transitions, but also not to make this transition completely uncertain.
- IN Japanese Haiku are often written on a single line, with the juxtaposing ideas separated by kireji, or a cutting word that helps define ideas, the relationship between them and give the poem grammatical completeness. Usually kireji is placed at the end of a sound phrase. Due to the lack direct transfer, kireji in Russian it is indicated by a dash, ellipsis, or simply by meaning. Notice how Buson separated the two ideas in one of his haiku:
Familiarize yourself with the sound structure of a haiku. Traditional Japanese haiku consists of 17 "on" or sounds, divided into three parts: 5 sounds, 7 sounds and 5 sounds. In Russian, “on” is equated to a syllable. The haiku genre has undergone some changes since its inception, and today many haiku writers, neither Japanese nor Russian, do not adhere to the 17-syllable structure.
Choose a theme for your haiku
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Concentrate on some intense experience. Haiku traditionally focuses on the details of the setting and environment related to the human condition. Haiku is a kind of contemplation expressed as an objective description of images or sensations, not distorted by subjective judgments and analysis. Use moments to write haiku when you notice something that you immediately want to draw the attention of others to.
- Japanese poets have traditionally tried to convey fleeting images of nature with the help of haiku, such as a frog jumping into a pond, raindrops falling on leaves, or a flower blown by the wind. Many people go on special walks, known in Japan as ginkgo walks, to find inspiration for writing haiku.
- Modern haiku do not always describe nature. They may also have completely different topics, such as urban environment, emotions, relationships between people. There is also a separate subgenre of comic haiku.
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Include a mention of the seasons. Mention of the seasons or their changes, or "seasonal word" - in Japanese kigo, has always been important element haiku. Such a reference may be direct and obvious, that is, a simple mention of the name of one or more seasons, or may take the form subtle hint. For example, a poem might mention the blooming of wisteria, which is known to only occur in summer. Note the kigo in the following haiku by Fukuda Chieni:
- During the night the bindweed entwined itself Around the tub of my well... I'll get some water from my neighbor!
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Create a story transition. Following the principle of juxtaposing two ideas in a haiku, use shifts in perspective when describing your chosen topic to divide the poem into two parts. For example, you describe how an ant crawls along a log, then compare this picture with a larger image of the entire forest, or, for example, the time of year in which the described scene takes place. This juxtaposition of images gives the poem a deeper metaphorical meaning than a one-sided description. As an example, let’s take a haiku from Vladimir Vasiliev:
- Indian summer… Over the street preacher Children laugh.
Use the language of feelings
Become a haiku poet
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Look for inspiration. Following ancient traditions, go outside the house in search of inspiration. Go for a walk, focusing on your surroundings. What details catch your eye? What exactly are they remarkable for?
- Always carry a notepad with you to jot down the lines that pop into your head. After all, you will not be able to predict at what moment a pebble lying in a stream, a rat running along the rails, or bizarrely shaped clouds flying across the sky will inspire you to write another haiku.
- Read haiku from other authors. The brevity and beauty of this genre has served as a source of inspiration for thousands of poets from all over the world. Reading other people's haiku will help you become familiar with various techniques this genre, and will also inspire you to write your own poetry.
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Practice. Like any other art form, composing haiku requires practice. The great Japanese poet Matsuo Basho once said: “Repeat your poems out loud a thousand times.” Therefore, rewrite your poems as many times as necessary to achieve the perfect expression of your thoughts. Remember that you don't have to stick to the 5-7-5 shape. Also remember that haiku, written according to literary standards, must include kigo, a two-part form, and also create an objective picture of reality in the language of sensations.
Connect with other poets. If you are seriously interested in haiku poetry, then you should join a club or community of fans of this genre. There are such organizations all over the world. It is also worth subscribing to a haiku magazine or reading online magazines on this topic, this will help you become more familiar with the structure of haiku and the rules for composing them.
- Haiku is also called “unfinished” poetry. This means that the reader must finish the poem himself, in his soul.
- Some modern authors write haiku, which are short fragments of three words or less.
- Haiku has its roots in haikai no renga, a genre of poetry in which poems were created by groups of authors and were hundreds of lines long. Haiku, or the first three lines of a chain of renga poems, indicated the season and contained a “cutting” word (by the way, this is why haiku is sometimes mistakenly called haiku). Having become an independent genre, haiku continues this tradition.