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Haiku Fun   (September 30, 2006)


I've been reading some classic Japanese haiku for fun recently, and thought you might enjoy a taste, too. If you had to choose just one book to browse, get poet Robert Hass' Essential Haiku. His introduction is pithy, succinct and insightful, not just on haiku and its three masters but on poetry, Buddhism and Japanese culture.

Another good one is The Spring of My Life: And Selected Haiku (Issa) translated by Sam Hamill.

Since I studied Japanese language, geography, culture and literature at the University of Hawaii, and majored in Comparative Philosophy (which means classes in both Western and Eastern philosophy), I think I am qualified to state the obvious that the Japanese language is structurally dissimilar to English. Hence, all translation is a priori interpretive.

Here are two equally charming translations of one of Issa's haiku:

Sam Hamill:

Don't kill that poor fly!
He cowers, wringing
his hands for mercy


Robert Hass:

Don't kill that fly!
Look--it's wringing its hands,
wringing its feet.

And here's the original Japanese:

Yare utsu na
hae ga te wo suri
ashi wo suru


Here's several more wonderful little poems (talk about bite-sized; eat your hearts out, Longfellow and Tennyson!)

Buson:

I go,
you stay;
two autumns

That snail--
one long horn, one short,
what's on his mind?

Issa:

Don't worry, spiders
I keep house
casually

Climb Mount Fuji,
O snail,
but slowly, slowly

That gorgeous kite
rising
from the beggar's shack

In spring rain
a pretty girl
yawning

When I finally die,
I hope you'll tend my grave,
little grasshopper!

The blossoming plum!
Today all the fires of Hell
remain empty

Wonderful stuff, those last two; so few words, so full of wisdom.

Just for laughs I composed this haiku about the stock market. Recall that the classic haiku structure is three lines, of 5-7-5 syllables.

The Dow and Nasdaq
plump birds, ripe for the kitchen
what a meal they'll make!

The best haiku from a reader this weekend wins a gloriously free copy of my novel I-State Lines. Could be fun, give it a try!


For more on this subject and a wide array of other topics, please visit my weblog.

                                                           


copyright © 2006 Charles Hugh Smith. All rights reserved in all media.

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