A Brief History of Haiku

By Kevin Kizer on Thursday, May 3, 2001 08:18 p

!astern, Haiku, "oetry
#urin$ the Heian period of %apanese &u'ture ()00*1100+, it ,as a so&ia' re-uireent to .e a.'e to
instant'y re&o$nize, appre&iate and re&ite %apanese and /hinese poetry0 1t ,as around this period
that short fors of poetry (tanka+ $re, in popu'arity over 'on$ fors of poetry (&hoka+0 The ri$id
'ifesty'es of the tie &arried over into art2 every poe had to have a spe&ifi& for0 The approved
for ,as the 3*)*3 trip'et fo''o,ed .y a &oup'et of seven sy''a.'es (this ,as the %apanese
e-uiva'ent to the ia.i& pentaeter of 4hakespeare5s !n$'and+0
6ro this for deve'oped the ren$a ('inked verse+ and the kusari*no*ren$a (&hains of 'inked
verse+0 These fors ,ere used a'ost as par'or $aes for the e'ite0 Ho,ever, in the id*
si7teenth &entury there .e$an a rise in 8peasant8 poetry0 1t ,as then that %apanese poetry
under,ent a re.irth in ,hi&h the staid fors of the past ,ere rep'a&ed ,ith a 'i$hter, airier tone0
This ne, for ,as &a''ed haikai and ,as 'ater naed renku0
Haikai &onsisted of a .e$innin$ trip'et &a''ed a hokku0 The hokku ,as &onsidered the ost
iportant part of the poe0 1t had t,o prin&ipa' re-uireents: a seasona' ,ord (kire9i+ and a
8&uttin$ ,ord8 or e7&'aation0
The poet Basho infused a ne, sensi.i'ity and sensitivity to this for in the 'ate seventeenth
&entury0 He transfored the poeti&s and turned the hokku into an independent poe, 'ater to .e
kno,n as haiku0 Basho5s ,ork fo&used around the &on&ept of karui (a fee'in$ of 'i$htness+ ** so
u&h so that he a.andoned the traditiona' sy''a.i& 'iitations to a&hieve it0
1n 8:n ;ove and Bar'ey: Haiku of Basho8, ;u&ien 4tryk ,rote:
8Basho5s ature haiku sty'e, 4hofu, is kno,n not on'y for karui, .ut a'so for t,o other <en*
inspired aestheti& idea's: sa.i and ,a.i0 4a.i ip'ies &ontented so'itariness, and in <en is
asso&iated ,ith ear'y onasti& e7perien&e, ,hen a hi$h de$ree of deta&hent is &u'tivated0 =a.i
&an .e des&ri.ed as the spirit of poverty, an appre&iation of the &oonp'a&e, and is perhaps
ost fu''y a&hieved in the tea &ereony, ,hi&h, fro the sip'e utensi's used in the preparation
of the tea to the very stru&ture of the tea hut, honours the hu.'e08
Basho a'so ,as one of the ear'iest proponents of spontaneous prose0 He .e'ieved in and
prea&hed the &on&ept of 4hasei (on*the*spot &oposition and tra&in$ the su.9e&t to its ori$in+0 To
$ive an idea of his inf'uen&e, a &onteporary s&hoo' of haiku, Tenro, is popu'ar a'' over %apan0 1t
in&'udes soe t,o thousand e.ers a'' over the &ountry ,ho eet at desi$nated tep'es to
,rite as any one hundred haiku a day0 The $oa' is to attept to enter o.9e&ts and share the
8de'i&ate 'ife and fee'in$s08
4in&e the tie of Basho, the history of haiku irrors the <en idea' that it oftenties re'ates0 =hi'e
it has $one throu$h any transforations, deve'opents, and revisions, $ood haiku today is
surprisin$'y sii'ar as to ,hen Basho deve'oped the for in the seventeenth &entury0
4o ,hat shou'd haiku a&&op'ish> =hat shou'd it provide the reader> A&&ordin$ to the &'assi&
haiku poets of %apan, haiku shou'd present the reader ,ith an o.servation of a natura',
&oonp'a&e event, in the sip'est ,ords, ,ithout ver.a' tri&kery0 The effe&t of haiku is one of
8sparseness80 1t5s a oentary snat&h fro tie5s f'o,, &rysta''ized and disti''ed0 ?othin$ ore0
:f a'' the fors of poetry, haiku perhaps is the ost deandin$ of the reader0 1t deands the
reader5s parti&ipation .e&ause haiku ere'y su$$ests soethin$ in the hopes that the reader ,i''
find 8a $'ipse of hitherto unre&o$nized depths in the se'f08 =ithout a sensitive audien&e, haiku is
nothin$0
T,o other a9or haiku poets, .oth of ,ho fo''o,ed in the tradition of Basho, ,ere Buson and
1ssa0
There is a $ro,in$ tradition of ,estern Haiku, and Beat ,riters su&h as %a&k Keroua& have
.rou$ht a.out a ne, a,areness of the possi.i'ity of odern Haiku0