Monday 3 November 2014

Haiku Poems About Life

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Haiku Poems About Life Biography

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During the Heian period of Japanese culture (700-1100), it was a social requirement to be able to instantly recognize, appreciate and recite Japanese and Chinese poetry. It was around this period that short forms of poetry (tanka) grew in popularity over long forms of poetry (choka). The rigid lifestyles of the time carried over into art; every poem had to have a specific form. The approved form was the 5-7-5 triplet followed by a couplet of seven syllables (this was the Japanese equivalent to the iambic pentameter of Shakespeare's England).

From this form developed the renga (linked verse) and the kusari-no-renga (chains of linked verse). These forms were used almost as parlor games for the elite. However, in the mid-sixteenth century there began a rise in "peasant" poetry. It was then that Japanese poetry underwent a rebirth in which the staid forms of the past were replaced with a lighter, airier tone. This new form was called haikai and was later named renku.

Haikai consisted of a beginning triplet called a hokku. The hokku was considered the most important part of the poem. It had two principal requirements: a seasonal word (kireji) and a "cutting word" or exclamation.

The poet Basho infused a new sensibility and sensitivity to this form in the late seventeenth century. He transformed the poetics and turned the hokku into an independent poem, later to be known as haiku. Basho's work focused around the concept of karumi (a feeling of lightness) -- so much so that he abandoned the traditional syllabic limitations to achieve it.

In "On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho", Lucien Stryk wrote:

"Basho's mature haiku style, Shofu, is known not only for karumi, but also for two other Zen-inspired aesthetic ideals: sabi and wabi. Sabi implies contented solitariness, and in Zen is associated with early monastic experience, when a high degree of detachment is cultivated. Wabi can be described as the spirit of poverty, an appreciation of the commonplace, and is perhaps most fully achieved in the tea ceremony, which, from the simple utensils used in the preparation of the tea to the very structure of the tea hut, honours the humble."

Basho also was one of the earliest proponents of spontaneous prose. He believed in and preached the concept of Shasei (on-the-spot composition and tracing the subject to its origin). To give an idea of his influence, a contemporary school of haiku, Tenro, is popular all over Japan. It includes some two thousand members all over the country who meet at designated temples to write as many one hundred haiku a day. The goal is to attempt to enter objects and share the "delicate life and feelings."

Since the time of Basho, the history of haiku mirrors the Zen ideal that it oftentimes relates. While it has gone through many transformations, developments, and revisions, good haiku today is surprisingly similar as to when Basho developed the form in the seventeenth century.

So what should haiku accomplish? What should it provide the reader? According to the classic haiku poets of Japan, haiku should present the reader with an observation of a natural, commonplace event, in the simplest words, without verbal trickery. The effect of haiku is one of "sparseness". It's a momentary snatch from time's flow, crystallized and distilled. Nothing more.

Of all the forms of poetry, haiku perhaps is the most demanding of the reader. It demands the reader's participation because haiku merely suggests something in the hopes that the reader will find "a glimpse of hitherto unrecognized depths in the self." Without a sensitive audience, haiku is nothing.

Two other major haiku poets, both of whom followed in the tradition of Basho, were Buson and Issa.

There is a growing tradition of western Haiku, and Beat writers such as Jack Kerouac have brought about a new awareness of the possibility of modern Haiku.Haiku is a well-known form of Japanese poetry in the West. Students like writing haiku because of its brevity; teachers find it an interesting addition to the study of poetry. With some basic background information and some hints for guided practice, the study of haiku can give students a brief glimpse into Japanese culture.

Background
Historically, there are only a few poets in Japan who, over the centuries, have become respected for their haiku poetry. Among these are Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki. Of these four, the most famous is Basho. He is credited with making haiku a revered form of poetry. Before Basho refined the haiku poem, its form of 17 syllables had been used, but not with the simplicity and depth of meaning that Basho brought to the form.

Basho was born in 1644 in the city of Ueno. His father was a samurai of lower rank in the service of the Todo family. When Basho was nine years old, he became a study companion to the Todo family heir, Yoshitada. These two became great friends and studied the art of linked verse under a famous writer of the time, Teitoku. Yoshitada died at the age of 25, leaving Basho crushed with grief. Basho asked to be released from service to the Todo family, but his request was denied, so he ran away to Kyoto. It is believed that he spent several years there in a temple studying the Chinese and Japanese classics.

In 1671, Basho returned to his home in Ueno and presented to the shrine there an anthology of works by many authors, including himself, which he edited and critiqued. The anthology was well-received and Basho gained respect for the work. Soon thereafter, he left for Edo (now Tokyo) which was the center of the Tokugawa government. There he worked at various jobs as he made a name for himself in the circle of poets. He was invited to study with Soen, a famous contemporary poet. It was Soen's influence that taught Basho the value of the humble and unpretentious use of images from everyday life that would become the hallmark of his poetry.

In 1676, Basho began to compose poetry for publication. The poems he wrote appeared in many anthologies over the next four years, and he found himself with disciples whose poems were also being published. However, he was not satisfied with this type of writing and eventually moved to a small house by a river. Living by himself, he began to withdraw from the world around him. Signs of spiritual suffering can be seen in his poems from this period.

It was during this time of suffering that Basho began studying Zen meditation under the guidance of a priest. He is known to have said that he had one foot in the other world and one in this world, leading us to believe that meditation probably never led him to enlightenment. In 1682, Basho's home was destroyed by fire. His writings of the following two years reveal his resulting distress as he struggled to find his own style of expression.

In the summer of 1684, Basho started on the first of his five famous travels around Japan. It was a precarious time to travel, and most people would not simply take to the open road. His records of his travels have become classical literature. They are written in a combination of prose and poetry called haibun. His writing took on a mature, knowing style, representing the spiritual distance he had traveled. Anthologies of his works were published during this period, including Spring Days, a collection of his own and his pupils' poems containing Basho's most famous haiku:

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About LifeStruggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures

Haiku Poems About Life Struggles And Love Lessons Tumbir Photos Images Pics Pictures


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