List: Haiku & Senryu

 

'A flash of lightning. The sound of drops among the bamboo'

http://www.flickr.com/photos/minxlj/369324736/sizes/o/

 

Without entering into sterile arguments over what constitutes a HAIKU in English, just a few lines to outline my personal position. Included here are haiku, senryu, tanka and 'wryku'

As a general rule I adhere to the 5 7 5 syllables explicitly using pillow words (double meanings) where possible and, unless parodying other HAIKU have for several years rhymed the first and third lines. The reason for this rhyme is explicitly to heighten the relationship between content and context.

 

One leaves to the reader's appreciation to weigh the arguments for and against the use of a fixed number of syllables to define a haiku or senryu in the English language. 

 

 

 

Poetical forms
should serve, and not be served,
what, deserved, conforms ?

Muse poetical
mocks lock's lined paradox box, shocks
re...role versicle

Poetical rules
should be ingrained then ignored,
only the heart schools

 

 

utamakura 歌 枕 or Pillow Words,
refer to place names used in Japanese poetry, where a kind of code with a special meaning, mood, season or other reference to history is implied.
Just mentioning YOSHINO will give the reader all the background of the Cherry Blossoms and Yoshitsune.


They are similar to 'makura kotoba' 枕 詞 , 枕 言 葉 , 'pillow words', normal words used as codes to bring out a mood or mental scene for the reader.

We also have 'kakekotoba'　掛 詞 ', a kind of pun word that have more than one meaning and may add a funny or serious twist to a poem.

Exceptions included here :
1) Certain rhyming couplets
2) An occasional ideogram equivalent with one word per line

3) A restricted number of pieces - generally pastiches or parodies - with a syllabic scheme below 5 7 5
4) A few poems or pastiches with a linked HAIKU context



Jonathan Robin

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