Haiku Poem
The haiku is a unique Japanese poetic form characterized by its three-line structure. The first line contains five syllables, the second seven, and the third returns to five. This distinct structure evolved from the hokku, the opening three lines of a longer poem called a tanka. The haiku emerged as a separate form of poetry in the 17th century, marking a significant development in Japanese poetry.
A Brief History of Haiku (by Master Class)
The haiku has a long and storied history, originating in Japan.
- Renga: Japanese renga was a poetic form popular in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Renga is a longer collaborative poem consisting of lines written back and forth by two or more poets. Renga was governed by a codified structure and complex rules and was composed formally over a few hours. Renga began with a short verse called a hokku, setting the tone and setting the poetry in a particular season. This opening verse, often written in three short phrases containing five, seven, and five sounds, is the precursor to the modern haiku.
- Haiku masters: The evolution of haiku is a testament to the creativity and adaptability of poets. In the sixteenth century, poets began experimenting with writing hokku independently, without the renga. This marked the beginning of a new era for haiku. In the Edo Period (1603–1867), a reformist poet named Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) developed and popularized a more relaxed and humorous form of rengu called haikai. With greater ability for expression and variations in tone, Bashō and other reformist poets Yosa Buson (1716–1784) and Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828) found humor in describing seemingly mundane objects. This evolution continued during the Meiji Period (1868–1912), when poets like Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) further popularized the hokku. In the nineteenth century, hokku became known as haiku, a fully independent form of poetry.
- Haiku, with its universal appeal, began to transcend borders in the nineteenth century. It first found its way to the Netherlands and France and, soon after, North America. The haiku’s influence was felt by renowned poets like Ezra Pound, who incorporated its essence into his works. Pound’s poem “In a Station of the Metro” (1913) is an early American haiku despite not adhering to the traditional five-to-five-line structure. This global reach of haiku continued to grow, with Beat poets in the 1950s drawing inspiration from Eastern philosophy and haiku. R. H. Blyth’s Haiku (1951) played a significant role in introducing the art to English-speaking readers through his translations of Japanese haiku.
Ahmad Azarmi provides the following poems.
A fool casts a stone in the well,
Hundred pundits attempt to fetch it and bring it up.
Who stands above whom?
A gun-happy man walked in the town.
Many lives ended on that day–
A price we paid for his madness.
In the waiting room of my doctor,
Routinely I glanced through the months-old gazettes.
“The president is shot today,”
The front-page headline read.
“Happy birth-day Grandpa,”
The colorful postcard reads–
The envelope opened in a garage sale!
Fallen rain upon the little pond.
Spring for the two frogs–
Summer jumping of the young.
Clinging fearfully to the side of the pond
For the dear life–
No mercy for the impaired frog.
After a long life together–
How they learned,
And the fact they learned:
They had never known each other.
In my parents’ bedroom
my father was lying next to the neighbor’s wife.
I never saw my mother again.
An acorn descends beneath the oak,
An aged feather soars for the azure.
the second-hand of the clock ticks rhythmically—
Life goes on.
Terrified rabbit in the coop
Brings up an appetite for the fox–
No stew for the farmer tonight.
He never knew he had a son,
Until someone called him “grandfather.”
A fallen skunk fell into the rabbit cage,
Looking desperately for the way out.
A dilemma for the poor poacher.
Snow arrived late this winter
Impatient snowberry, snow willow–even pussy willow–
All looking for a cold stream this summer.
The lonely frog in the flower pot
By chance came inside for the winter–
Now he croaks only to the rock music.
In the bright daylight,
While the owl can only hoot,
The lucky frog croaks all day long.
On the fogy night.
the train hardly moved
And its lights barely shone.
“I will arrive on time,” I dreamt.
Papa left us to join the army.
Momma remained silent all spring long–
We had the coldest summer.
In the museum of old adobe huts:
broken cradle, straw hand-fan, and folk music–
I heard my mother’s voice of lullaby.
I fell asleep to the hoots of the owls,
Woke up to the crowing of the cocks–
My alarm clock seemed a useless contraption.
The deep winter-cold snowman
Rises early to a melting rage.
“Spring is here,”the silly black bird chirps— flying with no direction.
Down in the bushes,
Cold and windy— with two little chicks waiting:
Spring is there.
Dark cloudy day with thunder—
“Nice day, isn’t it?” The cab driver says.
Upon his deathbed,
We all showed sorrow and respect.
“Who is minding the store?” the dying papa raged.