Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 morae (called on in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; [1] that include a kireji, or "cutting word"; [2] and a kigo, or seasonal reference. However, haiku by classical Japanese poets, such as Matsuo Bashō, also deviate from the 17-on pattern and sometimes do not contain a kireji.
Kireji (切れ字, lit. "cutting word") are a special category of words used in certain types of Japanese traditional poetry. It is regarded as a requirement in traditional haiku, as well as in the hokku, or opening verse, of both classical renga and its derivative renku (haikai no renga).
Therefore, the 5/7/5 pattern of the haiku in modern Japanese is of morae rather than syllables. The Japanese syllable-final n is also moraic, as is the first part of a geminate consonant. For example, the Japanese name for Japan, 日本, has two different pronunciations, one with three morae (Nihon) and one with four (Nippon).
In contemporary haiku composition, Japanese haiku writers disagree about if a haiku requires a kigo, while writers outside of Japan feel free to write haiku without kigo. [22] The Modern Haiku Association of Japan published a collection of kigo in 2004 which included non-seasonal kigo.
A monument containing a haiku by Shiki, in front of Matsuyama Station. Shiki may be credited with salvaging traditional short-form Japanese poetry and carving out a niche for it in the modern Meiji period. [38] While he advocated reform of haiku, this reform was based on the idea that haiku was a legitimate literary genre. [39]
This is a list of kigo, which are words or phrases that are associated with a particular season in Japanese poetry.They provide an economy of expression that is especially valuable in the very short haiku, as well as the longer linked-verse forms renku and renga, to indicate the season referenced in the poem or stanza.
Being one of the few women haiku poets in pre-modern Japanese literature, Chiyo-ni has been seen an influential figure. Before her time, haiku by women were often dismissed and ignored. She began writing haiku at seven years old, and by age seventeen she had become very popular all over Japan. Chiyo-ni continued writing throughout her life.
Yasuda's best known book is The Japanese Haiku: Its Essential Nature, History, and Possibilities in English, with Selected Examples (1957). His other books include A Pepper-pod: Classic Japanese Poems Together with Original Haiku, a collection of haiku and translations in English; Masterworks of the Noh Theater; A Lacquer Box, translation of waka and a translation of Minase Sangin Hyakuin, a ...