Rules for haiku Freedom Individualism

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Rules for haiku ? !

yakusokugoto, promises ... many ways to call them in Japanese.

Should we think of them as restrictions and strict regulations
or
as tools to help us define the genre and improve our writing of haiku ?


Before we can delve deeper, we have to think again about
Haiku Definitions .. !!!!!


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In my beginning days of learning Japanese haiku with a group of serious
elderly Japanese, our Sensei was a well-educated, gentle lady trying to help
the stammering gaijin on the way in a time when this was not yet mainstream.
To have a pet gaijin in a Japanese group became more fashionable after that,
but that is a different story in itself.


Anyway, very soon I asked her:
How can I express my individuality and freedom within so many restrictions
as five seven five, finding a kigo and kireji and all the rest?


Here is her reply:
It is maybe much easier to find freedom and individual expressions within
the rules, because you must look for true independence, for your true self.

If you have no rules that does not necessarily mean you are free, it might
only tempt you to write any silly stuff and pretend this to be free and
individual, but that is your brain speaking, not your true heart. If your
heart is free, you need not argument about the rules to express this
freedom. This is maybe the ZEN part of haiku, but I will not teach you zen,
I will teach you words and rules which you can use freely, once you jump the
river of brain argumenting.

I am very greatful for these teachings. In this way, haiku becomes a way of
life, as Kyudo has developed to shooting without bow and arrow. When my
haiku hits the target once in a while, well, my joy is way beyond limited
personal freedom indeed and if you want to join in this joy, you are most
welcome.

Gabi Greve, March 2005


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Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience,
and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern.

Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)
English philosopher and mathematician. Dialogues, June 10, 1943.


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quote
... Talking about different meanings of a particular word, the English word 'rule' itself has of course more than one meaning and is used in other senses such as advice or habit. However, it is normally used in the strict sense of 'rules and regulations' to be obeyed, observed and complied with when it is applied to haiku.

... Haiku, a product of Japan's tradition, colliding head-on with the Western society based on individualism, free thinking and democracy, i.e. anti-hierarchical, anti-authoritarian and anti-elitist regime.

Purposes Crossed, Semantics Confused, Context Ignored
Susumu Takiguchi on the subject of haiku rules !!!


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Danjuro XII and the freedom in Kabuki acting

Freedom is fine; but I get the feeling that many modern-day Japanese have forgotten that freedom comes with responsibility. This concept is found in kabuki, so people who come to watch it will be exposed to the responsibility of freedom as well as freedom's limits.

Think of freedom as a dog that feels free to run around a fenced garden.
It feels satisfied because it is not stuck in the house, even though it doesn't have the freedom to go outside the garden.
Freedom exists inside the garden as well as outside.
But there is a barrier.
Nowadays, there is no such barrier.
I think kabuki expresses the freedom that exists within a barrier.

DANJURO XII
Destined to act wild ...



This is almost the same as my haiku teacher told me when I asked her about expressing my individuality within the many guidelines of Japanese traditional haiku!
She also said

"Find your own voice within the limits!
Express yourself within the promises (yakusokugoto) of haiku!
And if you can not or do not want to do that,
write free short poetry (tanshi). "


. More wise words of my SENSEI


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quote
Haiku: The Heart of Japan in 17 Syllables
Mayuzumi, Madoka

The kigo evolved from cultivating such close ties with nature. Seasons always come and go, even during times of social upheaval like warfare. The full moon appears each month, and cherries always blossom in the spring. The Japanese people have lived with these seasonal changes and shared the joys, sorrows, and concerns that the changes bring. The kigo encapsulates all these sentiments, our happiness, our pain, our tears, and even our values and aesthetics. It is the secret behind the haiku’s ability to make profound statements with just 17 sounds.

The 5-7-5 syllable format also gives haiku a distinctive rhythm. Traditional manifestations of Japanese culture, such as the noh theater, flower arrangement, and tea ceremony, all make use of conventionalized forms. Many people comment that haiku is already restricted by being so short and having fixed syllables and wonder why there is a need for a kigo.
Ironically, it is the rigid structure and
seasonal requirement that give poets the freedom to let their imagination run free.
.
http://www.tokyofoundation.org/en/articles/2010/haiku
Mayuzumi Madoka - Kokoro



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Some friends ask:
If so many haiku poets use the same kigo again and again, does that not reduce the potential of creativity to only two lines?

I think my sensei has given the answer in the above quote.

"To bring the KIGO alive"
is one purpose of writing traditional Japanese haiku in the first place.
Do you know the true power of a seasonal word?



Gabi Greve : Riddles or Haiku ?


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quote about Chinese Art
by Xu Bing

The core of Chinese art, which differs greatly from that of Western art, is on many levels about achievement within the parameters. Development is not measured by whether or not one breaks tradition or creates something new.

Many generations of artists work under the same standards; the same subjects are painted over and over again - it is a matter of who can "play" the most skilfull and who possesses the best taste.
The actual merit of painting is less important than what the painting reveals about the artist's character.

Orientations, Volume 41 - Number 7 - October 2010


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haiku rules
... to keep ... or ... not to keep ...
which is your answer ?
Gabi Greve



The Problem
by Philip Rowland

Perhaps what’s needed is less striving to perfect the “same,”
more writing against the grain.

source : THF : 1st POSITION


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Jane Reichhold on the subject

I would like to add my comments signed with \o/.
>
>The easiest haiku to write are bad haiku,

Sorry to disagree with you so quickly but many people, even beginners, (I have found), often write an excellent haiku in their first rush of pleasure of discovering haiku. Several persons I know have won prizes in contests and then said, "That's the first haiku I ever wrote!". I do think that the more one studies haiku, the harder it gets to write 'a good one'. I believe some haiku are 'given to me' and when these arrive they are often complete and whole, and they are usually keepers. Other of my haiku have been revised for years and are never right and sometimes after a long time, the ku will suddenly unfold and shine. We are speaking of creation -- everything is possible, in every way.\o/


and the surest way to write
>bad haiku is to ignore the basic principles of haiku.

I truly have trouble with the concept of "bad haiku". There can be haiku you do not like, you do not appreciate, or which do not measure up to the standards you have set for your own haiku writing, but this does not make them 'bad'. You are failing to appreciate them, like them or accept them -- that does not make a poem 'bad'. I will admit I get more pleasure from a haiku that teaches me a better way to see the world, points out a miracle I've missed, or shows me a way to make my own haiku better. And I will admit that when people are learning, they (as you and I did) write ku that will need to be revised to use haiku techniques more skillfully as they learn them.\o/

Some that are fundamental and important to remember are:
>
>Don't try to be clever or witty in haiku.

In any art form you cannot 'try' to do or be anything without it showing. The Zen practice (and any practice -- calligraphy, ikebana, haiku) is doing it so often and so long that you forget the learning and just do it. Until you get to this point, you have to try out EVERYTHING. Try some witty haiku. Try to be funny. And if a funny or witty haiku comes to your paper, enjoy it! and smile. The time for being judgemental with your haiku is deciding where to publish it, to whom do you show it. I have written many haiku that are meaningful for me, that would not impress anyone else or even convey something to them. These are in my notebooks. Not every haiku is proper for every occasion or situation. As writer, you have to know how to care for your ku. \o/
>
>Do not use so many words that the poem loses sharp focus.

Any writing should only use the best words in the best order. You can use all the words you need. If your mind is clear and you have studied and practiced, you will hopefully use the right amount of words. And if you don't, consider revising, and revising.\o/
>
>Do not use so few words that the reader is confused.

This rule is rather vague. If we accept the concept that a haiku is composed of two parts -- one longer and one shorter (1 line + 2 lines) there are different 'rules' for these two parts. In the short part it is often possible to drop the "a - an - the" or substitute a modifier or just use the simple subject. This part can be simply a sentence fragment. When writing the longer (2 line) part it feels better to the reader/listener if these phrases follow normal English sentence syntax. However, haiku have (and will) be written with fragments. When one translates Japanese haiku, one sees how fragmented the parts of the ku often are. Some persons, in an attempt to imitate 'real' Japanese haiku, have composed very fragmented poems. For the English ear, these often feel telegramic and uncomfortable.\o/
>
>Do not be a slave to syllables but try to use 17 or less.
>

>Do not philosophize--no process of thought should show.

But it does. If the writer has a reverence for life, for nature, for fellow humans; it will show. In the same way, writing and sharing our best haiku is often better than a thousand rules. \o/
>

>Do not compare one thing with another.

The three techniques for forming a connection between the elements / subjects of a haiku has been expounded as being: association (this can mean metaphor, simile, similar use, shape, color, form symbolism), contrast (the difference between the subjects) or comparision (as in Basho's "autumn crow" ku). The trick is to be as subtle as possible without losing your reader's ability to follow your connection. In Arnold's Chinese rose, I was unable to follow his connection -- greatly reducing my appreciation of his ku. For Jeanne, this was not the case.\o/
>

>Do not speak of one thing as though it were something else.

A good goal to have, but our language is pitted with potholes for our holy knees. EX: the road 'runs' uphill without legs, dawn 'breaks' without being demolished, time 'flies' without wings and the clock tells time without a mouth and uses its hands to point to the numbers. What about all those ku about the 'rabbit in the moon'? Or the 'coolness' of the moon?\o/
>

>Do not try to surprise or impress with a "punchline."

Many haiku are built on the premise first polished by the Chinese in their quatrains. Line 1 set up the premise, Line 2 elaborated on the same image, Line 3 twisted away making an inconceivable image, Line 4 resolved the 'riddle'. Haiku has adopted this by dropping line 2. The whole idea of the maekuzuki was an exercise in this type of writing -- to say something inconceivable and then finding a situation in which it was true.
>
>Do not leave out simple words necessary to good English.

I guess you mean the 'a - an - the' elements. Or did you mean adjectives and adverbs? In the process of trimming out all 'unnecessary' words, it is often a "first check" in revising to attack the adverbs and adjectives to see if the ku really needs them.
>
>Do not "preach" religion, belief, morals, or ethics. Ever. \o/
>

>Do not use end rhyme.

End rhyme sometimes occurs in English and very often in Japanese haiku. The problem with end rhyme in English is that it has the tendency to 'close down' the ku, to finish it off when you really wish to keep the ku open and reverberating in the reader's mind. Also, our poetry reading habits have conditioned us to grasp the rhyme and think we 'have' the poem. Haiku offer so much more, it is a shame to let the rhyme finish the poem.\o/
>

>Do not use internal rhyme or repeated sounds for their own sake.

Why not? The Japanese do and did it all the time. In fact, they admire poems using this technique skillfully. Why deny the tool for us?\o/
>

>Do not compile artificial lists of "season words" but try to indicate season directly or indirectly.

I would not recommend slavishly following a list of kigo but through my work with the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society of USA & Canada, I found that studying kigo often inspired me to be more aware of aspects of a season that were unique to only that season -- to grasp the moment of that time of the year. Also, we often have a tendency to write our ku on certain subjects which are meaningful to us. When one sees a list of subjects for the season in which one is living, it helps to move our 'perception equipment' to a wider view. Listing poems by kigo is a marvelous method for organizing large amounts of haiku so the reader can find his/her way back to a favorite poem.
R. uses kigo in the kukai to sharpen writers' observation and to demonstrate the many ways of viewing one subject. Please do not throw out this tool.\o/
>

>Avoid putting the ego in haiku; avoid "I," "me," and "my."

Is it better to 'fake it' by referring to yourself as 'the old poet', 'the fisherman', the hiker? Probably. But sometimes I get rather tired of this method and I appreciate it when the writer says right out loud "I ..." I find in reading more contemporary Japanese haiku and tanka and renga, that there is an increased freedom in referring to oneself. For us Occidentals it will always be more problematic as our language does not enjoy the vagueness the Japanese language has in its use of pronouns. We have to find our own way. But even Basho wrote poems in which he designated himself directly.
>

>Read old haiku to see which succeed, which fail, and learn from both.

I whole-heartedly agree with you here. The best learning experience is reading everything you can AND then deciding what you like or do not like. After many years you may even find yourself liking a ku you previously disliked (because you did not appreciate the technique the writer was working with?). As you become more skilled in reading and writing, new works will open up for you. Here again is where the kukai are such a valuable learning experience.\o/
>

>Do not be misled into thinking that excessively unusual or experimental poems are haiku.

Excuse me. I feel each author has the right to label his/her work as he/she sees it to be. YOU may not find the experiment worthy of being called a haiku but do remember that the 'hai' of haiku also means in Japanese, crippled, fragmentized, funny or even maybe -- weird.\o/
>

>Avoid subjects inappropriate to haiku--romance, sex, war, natural disasters, and so on. Haiku are simple things in simple words.

Sorry. Haiku is proving itself to be elastic enough to fit all kinds of situations. People have written very moving haiku about the earthquake in Kobe, the war in Croatia, marital discord, and yes, even sex. In fact, most work that does not touch an inner responsive chord will not be appreciated. Images that awaken sexual feelings are a sure way of touching your reader. Again, our Occidental problem is how to do this with sensitivity, descreteness, and remain subtle. Anywhere I go in my life, I take my haiku hunting equipment with me. \o/
>

>Do not anthropomorphize objects or creatures.

This was discussed long and wisely on Shiki earlier and many of us came to the conclusion that our language is already busy doing this for us.
Again, it is learning how to control and use wisely a time-honored poetic device.\o/
>

>Haiku convey genuine sensation, not calculated effects.

If this were true, what would happen to 'sabi', 'wabi', 'yugen' and 'shibumi' techniques? No more haiku with "old" in them? It would be a nice rule for one year, maybe...\o/
>
>Haiku deal with nature, not abstract thoughts.

I think you mean to say haiku are written using concrete images, not abstract concepts.\o/
>
>
>These are all good guidelines when used as tools, not absolute rules--but remember that one must learn the rules before breaking them successfully.
>
There is, of course, more--but this should be enough for consideration at present.

D., isn't it interesting that the shortest poetry form in the world generates the most rules? Isn't it also interesting that the newer a person is to haiku, the more they love to lay the rules on other persons? I wonder if it is possible to have a world where people learn to write haiku by reading haiku that give them pleasure and inspiration instead of our having to build picket fences around their ideas? \o/

　©　Shiki Archives May 1997, Jane Reichhold

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Quoting Kaneko Tohta

Two requirements of haiku are artistic quality and general appeal.

With this in mind, I have continued trying to find my way. I used to think that quality mattered more than popularity, and that it was all right to write as I pleased. But I changed after the seventies. As a result, I fumbled about in various ways on my own.

Lately, I have been saying that haiku is folk poetry and that haiku is a national folk art. This means that it is both popular and artistic. Calling it folk art means that the whole nation loves it.

My attitude toward seasonal words is that they are important, but there are many other expressions besides. Seasonal words are very important, but I recognize other expressions as well.


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Compiled by Larry Bole, March 2008 :

Haiku poets have often used elements of the natural world as symbols for events in their lives.

Basho often did this, especially in his "greeting" poems, as a guest to a host. Here are a couple of examples and some commentary from an essay by Haruo Shirane:

Another rule of North American haiku that Basho would probably find discomforting is the idea that haiku eschews metaphor and allegory. North American haiku handbooks and magazines stress that haiku should be concrete, that it should be about the thing itself. The poet does not use one object or idea to describe another, using A to understand B, as in simile or metaphor; instead the poet concentrates on the object itself. Allegory, in which a set of signs or symbols draw a parallel between one world and the next, is equally shunned.

All three of these techniques - metaphor, simile, and allegory - are generally considered to be taboo in English-language haiku, and beginners are taught not to use them.

However, many of Basho's haiku use metaphor and allegory, and in fact this is probably one of the most important aspects of his poetry. In Basho's time, one of the most important functions of the hokku, or opening verse, which was customarily composed by the guest, was to greet the host of the session or party. The hokku had to include a seasonal word, to indicate the time, but it also had to compliment the host.
This was often done allegorically or symbolically, by describing some aspect of nature, which implicitly resembled the host. A good example is:

shiragiku no me ni tatete miru chiri mo nashi

gazing intently
at the white chrysanthemums --
not a speck of dust

Here Basho is complementing the host (Sonome), represented by the white chrysanthemums, by stressing the flower's and, by implication, Sonome's purity.

Another example is

botan shibe fukaku wakeizuru hachi no nagori kana

which appears in Basho's travel diary Skeleton in the Fields (Nozarashi kiko):

Having stayed once more at the residence of Master Toyo, I was about to leave for the Eastern Provinces.

from deep within
the peony pistils -- withdrawing
regretfully the bee

In this parting poem the bee represents Basho and the peony pistils the host (Master Toyo). The bee leaves the flower only with the greatest reluctance, thus expressing the visitor's deep gratitude to the host. This form of symbolism or simple allegory was standard for poets at this time, as it was for the entire poetic tradition.

In classical Japanese poetry, object of nature inevitably serve as symbols or signs for specific individuals or situations in the human world, and Japanese haikai is no exception. Furthermore, poets like Basho and Buson repeatedly used the same images (such as the rose for Buson or the beggar for Basho) to create complex metaphors and symbols.

quote
... Without the use of metaphor, allegory and symbolism, haiku will have a hard time achieveing the complexity and depth necessary to become the object of serious study and commentary. The fundamental difference between the use of metaphor in haiku and that in other poetry is that in haiku it tends to be extremely subtle and indirect, to the point of not being readily apparent. The metaphor in good haiku is often buried deep within the poem.

For example, the seasonal word in Japanese haiku tends often to be inherently metaphorical,
since it bears very specific literary and cultural associations, but the first and foremost function of the seasonal word is descriptive, leaving the metaphorical dimension implied.
http://www.haikupoet.com/definitions/beyond_the_haiku_moment.html


And here is a well-known example from Issa (found on Lanoue's Issa translation website):

nadeshiko no naze oreta zoyo oreta zoyo

why did the blooming
pink break?
oh why?

Shortly after New Year's, 1821, Issa's third child, the infant boy Ishitaro, died of suffocation while bundled on his mother's back. In this haiku of mourning, written shortly after the tragedy, Issa depicts his son as an innocent, broken flower.
[end of excerpt from Lanoue]


And there is a famous/notorious modern example by Seishi:

umi no dete kogurashi kaeru tokoro nashi (1944)

Once over the sea,
winter winds can no longer
return home again.

trans. Kodaira & Marks

in which some commentators see "the winter winds" as referring to kamikaze pilots during WWII. According to Kodaira & Marks, in their book "The Essence of Modern Haiku: 300 Poems by Seichi Yamaguchi," they mentiont that "...Seishi has described the poem as written 'also to mourn the victims of a tragic wartime practice.' "



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Haiku without kigo ...

In an international haiku community and the widespread use of the internet, there are many options based on many opinions.
The patient has a right to informed consent.
The haiku poets are given enough information to choose what they can accept.

A cat without a tail is WHAT ?
Gabi Greve

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Marlene Mountain on general ideas and rules

No one owns haiku. Absolutely no one. Not even the Japanese.

The Japanese Spirit
... snip ... Is there a North American spirit?

they don't shoot horses do they?

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A FALSE START? THEN, START AGAIN!

- Reflections on Haikai –

Perhaps we made a false start. If that be the case, then the subsequent developments cannot all be really right.

We started with HAIKU. We should have started with HAIKAI, instead.

Little wonder that so many grievous mistakes have been made and still remain uncorrected in our understanding of haiku.

snip

Initial exploration of HAIKU by non-Japanese was like gunmo taizo o naderu (a lot of blind men feeling a great elephant) whereby one says that the elephant is a tree trunk and another says that it is a giant fan, and so on.

The loud voices saying that HAIKU was Zen, or HAIKU was not poetry, or HAIKU was Here and Now, or HAIKU was the product of the HAIKU moment, or HAIKU was nature poetry, or HAIKU was a verse in present tense, or HAIKU was devoid of ego, or HAIKU was an extremely serious and sacred business, or HAIKU reached some mysterious and profound truths captured in a few words, or HAIKU was not anthropomorphism,
and all other hundreds of things rang out across the world and muffled any other voices saying things to the contrary.

©　Susumu Takiguchi, WHR 2008


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Among the most remarkable features
characterizing Zen, we find these:
spirituality, directness of expression,
disregard of form or conventionalism,
and frequently an almost wanton delight
in going astray from respectability.

D.T. Suzuki quotes

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Yosa Buson wrote:

"Leaders of the haikai circles today each advocate their own poetic styles and speak ill of all the other styles. extending their elbows and puffing up their cheeks, they declare themselves to be master poets.

Some try to appeal to the wealthy, others to the eccentric, but most of the verses selected in their anthologies are unrefined works, the kind of verses that would make knowledgeable experts cover their eyes at the first glance and throw them away."

The Path of Flowering Thorn:
The Life and Poetry of Yosa Buson
Makoto Ueda
source : books.google.co.jp


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if a haiku is a temple,
will I go inside to burn insence
or to count the syllables?


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Learn to write haiku from a teacher:

Sensei, a haiku teacher ... My Japanese viewpoint




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