The Art of Haiku: Its History through Poems and Paintings by Japanese Masters

196 Pages·2012·79.17 MB·English

by  Stephen Addiss

The Art of Haiku
The Art of Haiku
OTHER BooKs BY STEPHEN Anmss FROM SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS
Its History through Poems
Four Huts: Asian Writings on the Simple Life (illustrator)
Haiku: An Anthology ofJ apanese Poems (w ith Fumiko Yamamoto and Akira and Paintings by Japanese Masters
Yamamoto)
River ofS tars: Selected Poems of Yosano Akiko (illustrator)
The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin
(with Audrey Yoshiko Seo)
Stephen Addiss
Tao Te Ching (cotranslator and illustrator)
The Zen Art Book: The Art ofE nlightenment (w ith John Dai do Loori)
t
SHAMBHALA
Boston & London 2012
To Audrey Yoshiko Seo
SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS, lNC.
Horticultural Hall
300 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
www.shambhala.com
© 2012 by Stephen Addiss
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher.
987654321
First Edition
Printed in the United States of America
I§ ]his edition is printed on acid-free paper that meets the
American National Standards Institute z39,48 Standard.
0 'This book is printed on 30% postconsumer recycled paper.
For more information please visitwww.shambhala.com.
Distributed in the United States by Random House, Inc.,
and in Canada by Random House of Canada Ltd
Designed by Daniel Urban-Brown
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Addiss, Stephen, 1935-
The art of haiku: irs history through poems and paintings by
Japanese masters / Stephen Addiss.-lst ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978+59030-886-8 (hardcover: acid-free paper)
r. Haiku-History and criticism. 2. Art and literature
Japan. L Title.
PL 729.A34 2012
809.1'41-dc23
20uo46656
Contents
Preface
ix
Acknozv ledgments
xi
Introduction
r. Background: The Tanka (Waka) Tradition 15
Renga, Hokku, Haikai, and Haiga
2,. 45
3. Bashc)
79
4. Followers of Basha
127
5. Senryu and Zen 153
6. Buson 179
7. Issa and the Early Nineteenth Century
22[
8. Shiki and the Modern Age
Appendix: Translating Htiiku
3n
Notes
314
Glossa~y
325
Selected Bibliography
326
Index
334
vii
Preface
Unless otherwise noted, the translations of the 997 poems in this book are
by the author, who bears responsibility for any mistakes or misinterpreta
tions, while acknowledging that haiku often contain more than one mean
ing. The appendix offers some comments on the difficulties of translating
from Japanese to English, and readers are welcome to make their own ver
sions of the poems using the Japanese romanizations supplied with each
tanka and haiku.
Also, in this history of haiku and haiga, the ages of poets are given in Jap
anese style; for example, when Saigyo is described as age thirty, we would
consider him tvventy-nine.
ix
Ackno\vledgments
First I must thank Audrey Yoshiko Seo, whose comments, advice, and en
couragement have been vital. I would also like to thank Fumiko and Akira
Yamamoto, with whom I have worked on previous haiku books, and who
continue to be a source of information and wisdom. My great appreciation
also goes to Norman Waddell, Joe Seubert, Peter Ujlaki, and my editor,
Jennifer Urban-Brown, Ben Gleason, and the entire Shambhala staff.
I must also acknowledge my admiration for those whose work has been
so outstanding in the study of traditional Japanese poetry, especially R. H.
Blyth, whose many volumes about haiku and senryu fully opened the field
to all of us in the West. In addition, I would like to cite Robert H. Brower,
Steven Carter, Edwin Cranston, William R. LaFleur, Howard Hibben,
J.
Donald Keene, Earl Miner, Joshua S. Mostow, Thomas Rimer, and Ar
thur Waley for their fine publications on tanka and renga. For exceptional
studies of haiku and haiga, I especially admire Robert Aitken, Sam Hamill,
David G. Lanoue, Okada Rihei, Sato Hiroaki, Shirane Haruo, John Ste
venson, Ueda Makoto, and Burton Watson, among many others. Publica
tions by these scholars and poet-translators are listed in the bibliography,
and are highly recommended.
Next I must express my gratitude to all those museums and private col
lectors who have allowed their works to be published here; their fine haiga
deserve to be better known and more fully appreciated in the Western
world.
xi
The Art of Haiku
}Introduction
''T:'
ms BOOK WILL TRACE the history of Japanese haiku, including the
· ··.· poetic traditions from which it ~as born, primarily thr~~gh the w~rk
ofleading masters such as Basho, Buson, Issa, and Sh1ki, along with
a
number of other fine poets. Although they are less well-known, haiku cal-
. ligraphy and haiku-paintings (haiga) of the masters will also be illustrated
and discussed as vital elements in the art of haiku. Theory and criticism
will be minimized in favor of presenting the works themselves, which were
composed to create a spontaneous interconnection with their readers and
viewers, who play a vital part in the expressive process.
What Are Haiku?
Although today haiku may be the best-known form of poetry in the world,
there is still confusion as to how to define them. Many people would de
scribe haiku as a three-line poem of 5-7-5 syllables, but this does not pen
etrate more than the surface of this remarkable form of poetry. Rather than
tight definitions, it might be more useful to discuss the guidelines that
most haiku follow.
Haiku in Japan are generally written or printed in a single column. Nev
ertheless, until the twentieth century, most traditional Japanese examples fall
into 5-7-5 syllable patterns, although this was stretched and even broken by
some of the great masters when it suited their purpose.1 In the past one hun
dred years, Japanese haiku poets have been divided between those who basi
cally follow 5-7-5, and those who do not. Furthermore, haiku poets in other
languages often ignore this guideline. For example, the great majority of fine •poem, while one including a heron is understood as taking place
haiku in English have fewer than seventeen syllables because English is more mer. Since the season adds to the mood and meaning of the poem,
compact than Japanese, and the same is true of haiku in other languages as erences are significant.
well (see the appendix for more information on syllable counts in Japanese , and most important, haiku suggest rather than define their mean-
and English). Jeaving much of the process up to the reader or listener. In effect, the
If haiku do not always depend upon a fixed syllable pattern, what are ce joins the writer in completing the poem, and since most haiku
their most important characteristics? One is closeness to nature, which sup ore than one possible meaning, they tend not to have "correct" or
plies most of the images that the poems rely upon to convey their mean interpretations. Here the brevity of the form is helpful; the fewer the
ings. "!his usually involves concrete observations expressed briefly and . s,the more potential for mt1ltiple implications. As we shall sec, the ear-
clearly through the use of everyday language and a syntax that is natural .poetic form called tanka (five-line poems with 5-7-5-7-7 syllable count)
rather than "poetic." Since in Japanese language the verb is usually at the llfed to be more explicit, while haiku allow readers to become partners to
end of the sentence, this sometimes involves the translator with changes in ':poet by personally responding to the images. Of course, all art is an expe-
word order, but the guidelines remain the same. Here is a view of nature by ·cc:e rather than an object-the poem, music, or painting is merely the in
Basha that finds the extraordinary in the ordinary: tor of that experience-but in haiku this interactive aspect is especially
ortant. Too much information would be limiting; like the inside of a
or
fayu niwaya garden in winter- cup, it is the empty space that is most valuable. In haiku these spaces
tsuki mo ito naru the moon also becomes a thread ake the form of grammatical ellipses, so one may ofi:en find incomplete
rnushi no gin in the insect's song tences, which allow meanings to emerge rather than being insisted upon.
For the same reason, most haiku are not directly subjective. Instead, an
The second characteristic of haiku are references to a particular season; Jective description of nature, often with a contrasting element, can allow
these references are called kigo. In Japanese, the great majority of traditional ·· ders more opportunities to engage with the poem, perhaps supplying
haiku indicate spring, summer, autumn, or winter, either directly (as in ir own subjective experiences. The description may contain an element
the haiku above) or through images that suggest which season is being pre surprise, mystery, or humor, but it is usually based on fresh, specific im
sented. Some of these references may seem arbitrary, but they are firmly ry with an intense focus. Yet a fine haiku is seldom purely objective,
fixed into haiku history. To give just a few of many possible examples, frogs, ce it has to resonate with human experience. It may give the appear
swallows, warblers, the hazy moon, late frost, and plum- or cherry-blos ce of being spontaneous, and perhaps it was, but poets like Basho and
soms are all indicators of spring, while for summer there are short nights, ntoka also considered and sometimes altered their verses over a period
herons, toads, lilies, duckweed, and hail. Fall includes the harvest moon, .. time. The purpose of haiku was to use the mundane while exceeding
lightning, dew, deer, grasshoppers, dragonflies, and persimmons, while e mundane, to discover a moment of oneness in the diverse or to discern
winter is indicated by snow, frost, ice, owls, ducks, fallen leaves, and bare .t~itltiplicity in the singular. Haiku can find an inner truth from an outward
trees.2 Therefore a Japanese haiku that mentions a frog is understood as a §~henomenon, and ultimately use words to go beyond words.
Introduction
hatsuaki ya early autumn at the end of the first or second segments there may be the extra syllable
umi mo 11ota no the sea and rice fields ya, at most a gentle untranslatable "ah," indicating a rhythmic p;iusc, or
hito midori a single green sometimes foreshadowing a change of theme or meaning. In contrast, the
ending kana gives a sense of completeness, or "Isn't it so?" One might see
Basho's haiku seems like pure observation, but it also allows readers to these cutting words primarily as sonic punctuations or intensifiers of mond
share the experience of an autumn day, as well as the feeling of unity in and meaning, as in these rwo examples by Basho:
nature and with nature. However, it does not say so too directly. l-faiku
present images rather than ideas; they seldom have conclusions, moral akebono y11 break of day-·
lessons, or direct statements of emotions-these may be implied, but the kiri ni uzurnaku swirling though the fog
more open haiku are to personal intuition and empathy, the stronger they kane no koe the voice of the bell
become as poems.
Another way to view haiku is through the combination of the momen f~y1tkunen no looking a hundred years old
tary and the timeless, the blending of human perception and the universal keshiki wo niwt1 no this garden's
pulse of nature. Like the "justthis" of Zen, haiku masters stress the current ochiba kana fallen leaves
moment in a state of focused perception, but that individual moment is
also part of a greater world that does not begin or end. Each happening can Neither ya in the first poem nor kana in the second have a distinct mean
be seen as unique, but also as connected with everything else. 'The frJllowing ing, but in the first haiku ya creates a pause, and in the second kana fills out
haiku by BashiJ manages to express the frmncr while somehow implying the rhythm with a feeling of conclusion. Other cutting words include yo
the latter: and zo .. both of which emphasize the previous word or v,rords. Since
seldom have meanings of their own, they arc primarily included ro contrib
kane kiete the temple bell fading, ute their rhythms and sounds; therefore, one may consider many Japanese
hana no ka wa tsuku the scent of flowers comes forth haiku as having fewer than seventeen active syllables.
yube kana evening In practice, most haiku have two parts, so thar either rhe first two lines
or the last two lines are one unit, and the first line or the last I ine is another
Haiku Structures
unit. In both poems given above, it was one plus two, while in the follow
If haiku are generally written in a single column in Japanese, why are they ing five haiku by Basho, it is the reverse:
usually translated into three lines? A good question, w which there are sev
eral possible answers. Primarily, it is because the three-part syllable divi aoytigi no green willow
sion in Japanese haiku becomes more dear in English when the lines are doro ni shidaruru drooping into the mud-
divided. In addition, traditional haiku often include pause marks called shiohi kant1 low tide
kireji (cutting words) that help to mark rhythmic divisions. For example,
4 Introduction Introduction