Finite or
Infinite: A Haiku Point
The best of them
come to us out of the moment in an insight so right, yet so
beyond our ordinary habitual perception, as to dumbfound us. We
find ourselves saying more than we mean and more than we know.
(Zen and the Art of Haiku—Ken
Jones)
Haiku is one of the
tiniest poems but it is at the centre of one of the biggest
controversies over its contents to forms. Though very light,
haiku may attract a heavy supportive audience. Originating in
Japan, written in one line usually but having three feet of
5+7+5 syllables, it is picturesque. Spreading its light wings it
has flown over many other countries including India. Winning the
heart of many, it is growing in popularity.
After visiting Japan
in 1916, Tagore introduced it to Indian poetry lovers through a
now-very-famous haiku of Basho—‘Old
pond/ Frog’s leap/ Sound of water.’
‘Enough, nothing is
required. Enough for the mind’s eye of Japanese reader,’ he
explained further in praise of it—‘This
tendency to economise one’s expression may be found in their
poems also. Three lines are enough for their poet and reader.
And for this I have not found here anyone singing on the road.
Their hearts do not make a sound like waterfall but are silent
like water in a tank. However much of their poems I have seen so
far, all are picturesque, not lyrics. Emotional burning of the
heart tends to vital lavishness. They do not so spend. Their
expression is limited to the feeling of beauty. . . . For this
only three lines satisfy them and it does not break the peace of
their imagination.’
The first part of
the ancient Japanese verse Renga was Hokku which later became
Haiku. It has been defined by Shasei—
‘Shasei is the
principle of “sketching from life” in a haiku, especially
advocated by Shiki. The idea is that a haiku should be
descriptive of a scene rather than be about abstractions or
thoughts on the scene. Furthermore, to be true to a scene, most
haiku should be written from actual memory (which may distort an
element of the scene), directly experienced as opposed to
imagined scenes. Haiku should preferably be written while
directly observing a scene and not generally from memory.’
No importance is
given to rhyming but haiku too is a poem and poems usually
rhyme, directly or indirectly. Rhythms are found very often.
Some modern haiku exponents have ridiculed rhyming.
Modern haijins write with minimum punctuation though kire-ji is
an essential part of haiku as it divides two different flows of
ideas or pictures, creating a special haiku point. They do not
follow the traditional form of 5+7+5 syllabic pattern as they
say that the system of syllables in Japanese language does not
conform to other languages like English. So they take the
freedom of composing a haiku with lesser syllables usually
though they exceed them sometimes in some feet. And that becomes
a rigid rule to them, not to conform to the traditional syllabic
pattern. The freedom lovers are very meticulous about keeping
and enlarging the stock of kigo or season words as Japanese
haiku are usually on Nature, they say. Haiku on human nature or
relationship or of any other theme generally, it is called
Senryu. But we find that poets write large number of haiku
without alluding to Nature or Season. Take for example the haiku
of Basho referred earlier. The frog’s leap may not relate to any
particular season though it more happens during rains in our
country.
The thing is, like
religion the proponents and exponents of a genre of poetry or
anything like that, formulates some rules while ignoring the
existing ones, thereby creating another system within the
system. If the Japanese syllables are different the principle
remains the same. 5+7+5 syllabic foot could be written in
English or in other languages too. And many are maintaining such
pattern which is called vanguard haiku by some.
I accept the logic
that without using the capital letters the haiku seems lighter
and with little punctuation, without a stop at the end, it seems
to give it a sense of lightness, as if flying through the
eternity. But it is to be admitted that with capital letters,
punctuation and a definite syllabic pattern also the haiku may
sometimes satisfy us though the rigid rule sometimes hampers the
easy and spontaneous flow of the poem. Away from the tradition
the New Style haiku has been named Shintai Haiku. Many are the
practitioners of it. Some of the Indians we know are—Kala
Ramesh, Angelee Deodhar, Vidur Jyoti, K. Ramesh, R. Samal,
Rohini Gupta, A. Thiagarajan, Narayanan Raghunathan, Shyam
Santhanam, Parimala Rao and Malini Rao. Some from out of India
are regularly haiku—related
to us, like Stanford Forrester, Susumu Takiguchi, John Daleiden,
Sondra Ball, Danis Garrison and there are many more to be named,
really. Haiku and poems of the similar genres have helped
haijins to form a world wide family.
Some are very
particular about the traditions like Mohammed Fakhruddin and
Kazuyoshi Ikeda. Many more poets still write in the same
pattern, the vanguard haiku, like Ram Sharma and others who
write in the Poets International, edited by Dr. Mohammed
Fakhruddin. Some other magazines and ezines too strictly follow
the syllabic count as in the original Japanese haiku. Haiku with
lesser syllabic count is called zen poem by the Poets
International. As haiku and zen meditation, etc. have originated
in the same country of usually Buddhist influence, they are in
the same sphere but whether such haiku may exclusively be
defined as zen is not certain. We may say that such naming
usually occurs on the way, as shintai has occurred. I have found
my self sharing the ideas of both the schools.
On the whole a haiku should be light and picturesque in all
sense. So didactic or pedagogic lines may not suit the haiku
mood. Let us taste a few haiku to judge them from different
angles and relish their beauty of expression.
In my opinion
Basho’s famous frog story was rendered better by another master,
Issa. Do the Japanese like the frogs more?
even in the well
bucket
croaking all night. . .
a frog
The leap of the
Basho’s frog, a finite thing, becomes infinite in Issa.
Smoke whirls
after the passage of a train.
Young foliage. (Shiki)
Though smoke too
vanishes, the metaphoric use of the young foliage remains
permanently before our eyes. I do not know if the master used
the capital letters at the beginning of each line as in English
here. But it matters little.
And rhyming? Let us
see two more haiku by by Issa:
rising to the blue
sky
baby sparrow’s
first cry
fleeing the bees
the Monkey’s restless
eyes
Mohammed Fakhruddin
always rhymes his haiku. And they are traditional. His haiku,
when on Nature, are better. Here is one—
A star appeared,
On dark-blue canvas above:
Then disappeared.
I remember, during a
haiku writing and reading session some one wrote something like,
twitter/ raised the newspaper, etc. The audience liked it—rhyming,
piquant, puzzle like thing—as
it was the mood of the haijins present there. I do not remember
it exactly, let me write a fresh one on the line—
twitter—
he lowers the paper;
resumes reading.
No strict rules. It
may be written differently. No water-tight compartments. No
fight.
Only the poetry remains.
© Aju Mukhopadhyay, 2008
