Japanese haiku. Japanese haiku about nature

Haiku is one of the best known and most widespread genres of Japanese poetry. True, not everyone can comprehend the meaning of short three-line poems, since they contain a deep connection between nature and man. Only very sensual and refined natures, who, moreover, are characterized by observation, can appreciate how beautiful and sublime these verses are. After all, haiku is just one moment of life, captured in words. And if a person has never paid attention to the sunrise, the sound of the surf, or the night song of a cricket, then it will be very difficult for him to feel the beauty and conciseness of haiku.

There are no analogues of haiku verses in any poetry of the world. This is explained by the fact that the Japanese have a special worldview, a very authentic and original culture, and other principles of education. By nature, the representatives of this nation are philosophers and contemplators. At the moments of the highest rise, such people give birth to poems known throughout the world as haiku.

The principle of their creation is quite simple and, at the same time, complex. The poem consists of three short lines, the first of which contains the initial information about the place, time and essence of the event. In turn, the second line reveals the meaning of the first, filling the moment with a special charm. The third line represents the conclusions, which very often reflect the author's attitude to what is happening, so they can be very unexpected and original. Thus, the first two lines of the poem are descriptive in nature, and the last conveys the feelings that the person saw inspired by what he saw.

In Japanese poetry, there are rather strict rules for writing haiku, which are based on principles such as rhythm, breathing technique, and language features. So, authentic Japanese haiku are created according to the 5-7-5 principle. This means that the first and last line must have exactly five syllables, and the second line must have seven. In addition, the entire poem must consist of 17 words. Naturally, only people who not only have a rich imagination and an inner world devoid of conventions, but also a magnificent literary style, as well as the ability to succinctly and colorfully express their thoughts, can comply with these rules.

It is worth noting that rule 5-7-5 does not apply to haiku poems if they are written in other languages. This is due, first of all, to the linguistic features of Japanese speech, its rhythm and melodiousness. Therefore, haiku written in Russian can contain an arbitrary number of syllables in each line. The same goes for word count. Only the three-line form of the poem remains unchanged, in which there is no rhyme, but at the same time the phrases are built in such a way that they create a special rhythm, conveying to the listener a certain impulse that makes the person mentally draw a picture of what he heard.

There is another haiku rule, which, however, the authors adhere to at their own discretion. It lies in the contrast of phrases, when the living side by side with the dead, and the power of nature opposes the ability of man. However, it is worth noting that contrasting haiku have a much greater imagery and attractiveness, creating bizarre pictures of the universe in the imagination of the reader or listener.

Writing haiku does not require focused effort and concentration. The process of writing such poems does not occur by the will of consciousness, but is dictated by our subconscious. Only fleeting phrases, inspired by what they saw, can fully correspond to the concept of haiku and claim the title of literary masterpieces.

Matsuo Basho. Engraving by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi from the 101 Views of the Moon series. 1891 The Library of Congress

genre haiku originated from another classical genre - five-line tank in 31 syllables, known since the 8th century. There was a caesura in the tanka, at this point it “broke” into two parts, resulting in a three-line 17 syllable and a couplet in 14 syllables - a kind of dialogue that was often composed by two authors. This original three-verse was called haiku, which literally means "initial stanzas". Then, when the tercet received an independent meaning, became a genre with its own complex laws, they began to call it haiku.

The Japanese genius finds itself in brevity. Three-verse haiku is the most concise genre of Japanese poetry: only 17 syllables of 5-7-5 mor mora- a unit of measure for the number (longitude) of a foot. Mora is the time required to pronounce a short syllable. in line. There are only three or four significant words in a 17-complex poem. In Japanese, haiku is written in one line from top to bottom. In European languages, haiku is written in three lines. Japanese poetry does not know rhymes; by the 9th century, the phonetics of the Japanese language had developed, including only 5 vowels (a, i, y, e, o) and 10 consonants (except for voiced ones). With such phonetic poverty, no interesting rhyme is possible. Formally, the poem is based on the count of syllables.

Until the 17th century, haiku writing was viewed as a game. Hai-ku became a serious genre with the appearance of the poet Matsuo Basho on the literary scene. In 1681, he wrote the famous poem about the crow and completely changed the world of haiku:

On a dead branch
Raven blackens.
Autumn evening. Translation by Konstantin Balmont.

Note that the Russian symbolist of the older generation Konstantin Balmont in this translation replaced the “dry” branch with a “dead” one, unnecessarily, according to the laws of Japanese versification, dramatizing this poem. In translation, it turns out that the rule of avoiding evaluative words, definitions in general, except for the most ordinary ones, is violated. "Haiku Words" ( haigo) should be distinguished by deliberate, precisely adjusted simplicity, difficult to achieve, but clearly felt insipidity. Nevertheless, this translation correctly conveys the atmosphere created by Basho in this haiku, which has become a classic, the longing of loneliness, the universal sadness.

There is another translation of this poem:

Here the translator added the word "lonely", which is not in the Japanese text, but its inclusion is nevertheless justified, since "sad loneliness on an autumn evening" is the main theme of this haiku. Both translations are highly acclaimed by critics.

However, it is obvious that the poem is even simpler than it was presented by the translators. If you give it a literal translation and place it in one line, as the Japanese write haiku, then you get the following extremely brief statement:

枯れ枝にからすのとまりけるや秋の暮れ

On a dry branch / a raven sits / autumn twilight

As we can see, the word "black" is missing in the original, it is only implied. The image of a “frozen raven on a bare tree” is Chinese in origin. "Autumn Twilight" aki no kure) can be interpreted both as “late autumn” and as “autumn evening”. Monochrome is a quality highly valued in the art of haiku; the time of day and year is depicted, erasing all colors.

Haiku is least of all a description. It is necessary not to describe, the classics said, but to name things (literally “give names to things” - down the hole) in extremely simple words and as if calling them for the first time.

Raven on a winter branch. Engraving by Watanabe Seitei. Around 1900 ukiyo-e.org

Haiku are not miniatures, as they have long been called in Europe. The greatest haiku poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who died early from tuberculosis, Masaoka Shiki, wrote that haiku contains the whole world: the raging ocean, earthquakes, typhoons, the sky and stars - the whole earth with the highest peaks and the deepest sea depressions. The haiku space is immeasurable, infinite. In addition, haiku tends to be combined into cycles, into poetic diaries - and often life-long, so that brevity of haiku can turn into its opposite: into the longest works - collections of poems (albeit of a discrete, interrupted nature ).

But the passage of time, past and future X aiku does not depict, haiku is a brief moment of the present - and nothing more. Here is an example of Issa's haiku, perhaps the most beloved poet in Japan:

How the cherry blossoms!
She drove off the horse
And the proud prince.

Transience is an immanent property of life in the understanding of the Japanese; without it, life has no value and meaning. Transience is so beautiful and sad because its nature is impermanent, changeable.

An important place in haiku poetry is associated with the four seasons - autumn, winter, spring and summer. The sages said: "He who has seen the seasons has seen everything." That is, I saw birth, growing up, love, new birth and death. Therefore, in classical haiku, the necessary element is the “seasonal word” ( kigo), which connects the poem with the seasons. Sometimes these words are hard to recognize by foreigners, but the Japanese know them all. Detailed databases of kigo are now being searched on Japanese networks, some with thousands of words.

In the above haiku about the crow, the seasonal word is very simple - "autumn". The coloring of this poem is very dark, accentuated by the atmosphere of an autumn evening, literally “autumn twilight,” that is, black against the background of gathering twilight.

See how gracefully Basho introduces the obligatory sign of the season into the parting poem:

For a spike of barley
I grabbed, looking for support ...
How difficult is the moment of separation!

"Spikelet of barley" directly indicates the end of summer.

Or in a tragic poem by the poetess Chiyo-ni on the death of her little son:

O my dragonfly hunter!
Where in an unknown country
Are you running today?

"Dragonfly" is a seasonal word for summer.

Another "summer" poem by Basho:

Summer herbs!
Here they are, the fallen warriors
Dreams of fame...

Basho is called the poet of wanderings: he wandered around Japan a lot in search of true haiku, and, going on a journey, he did not care about food, lodging for the night, vagabonds, and the vicissitudes of the journey in the remote mountains. On the way he was accompanied by the fear of death. The sign of this fear was the image of "Bones Whitening in the Field" - that was the title of the first book of his poetic diary, written in the genre haibun("haiku-style prose"):

Maybe my bones
The wind will whiten ... He is in the heart
I breathed cold.

After Basho, the theme of "death on the way" became canonical. Here is his last poem, "The Death Song":

On the way I got sick
And everything is running, circling my dream
Through the scorched fields.

Imitating Basho, haiku poets always composed "the last stanzas" before they died.

"True" ( makoto no) the poems of Basho, Buson, Issa are close to our contemporaries. The historical distance seems to be removed in them due to the immutability of the haiku language, its formulaic nature, which has been preserved throughout the history of the genre from the 15th century to the present day.

The main thing in the worldview of a haikaist is a keen personal interest in the form of things, their essence, connections. Let's remember the words of Basho: "Learn from the pine, what is the pine, learn from the bamboo, what is the bamboo." Japanese poets cultivated a meditative contemplation of nature, peering into the objects surrounding a person in the world, into the endless cycle of things in nature, into its bodily, sensual features. The goal of the poet is to observe nature and intuitively perceive its connections with the human world; Haikaists rejected ugliness, non-objectivity, utilitarianism, abstraction.

Basho created not only haiku poetry and haibun prose, but also the image of a wandering poet - a noble man, outwardly ascetic, in a poor dress, far from everything worldly, but also aware of the sad involvement in everything that happens in the world, preaching conscious "simplification". The haiku poet is characterized by an obsession with wanderings, the Zen Buddhist ability to embody the great in the small, awareness of the frailty of the world, the fragility and variability of life, the loneliness of man in the universe, the astringent bitterness of being, the feeling of the inseparability of nature and man, hypersensitivity to all natural phenomena and the change of seasons. .

The ideal of such a person is poverty, simplicity, sincerity, a state of spiritual concentration necessary to comprehend things, but also lightness, transparency of verse, the ability to depict the eternal in the current.

At the end of these notes, we will cite two poems by Issa, a poet who tenderly treated everything small, fragile, defenseless:

Quietly, quietly crawl
Snail, on the slope of Fuji,
Up to the very heights!

Hiding under the bridge
Sleeping on a snowy winter night
Homeless child.

Japan is a country with a very peculiar culture. Its formation was largely facilitated by the peculiarities of the geographical location and geological factors. The Japanese were able to settle in the valleys and the coast, but they constantly suffer from typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that their national consciousness deifies natural forces, and poetic thought seeks to penetrate into the very essence of things. This desire is embodied in laconic forms of art.

Features of Japanese poetry

Before considering examples of haiku, it is necessary to pay attention to the features of the art of the Land of the Rising Sun. This laconism is expressed in different ways. It is characteristic of the Japanese garden with its empty space, and origami, and works of painting and poetry. The main principles in the art of the Land of the Rising Sun are naturalness, understatement, and minimalism.

In Japanese, words do not rhyme. Therefore, in this language, poetry familiar to the native inhabitant could not have developed. However, the Land of the Rising Sun gave the world no less beautiful works called haiku. They contain the wisdom of the eastern people, their unsurpassed ability to learn through natural phenomena the meaning of being and the essence of man himself.

Haiku - the poetic art of the Land of the Rising Sun

The careful attitude of the Japanese to their past, to the heritage of antiquity, as well as strict observance of the rules and norms of versification turned haiku into a true art form. In Japan, haiku is a separate type of skill - for example, like the art of calligraphy. It acquired its true capacity at the end of the 17th century. The famous Japanese poet Matsuo Basho managed to raise it to an unsurpassed height.

The person who is depicted in the poem is always against the backdrop of nature. Haiku is intended to convey and show phenomena, but not to name them directly. These short poems are sometimes called "pictures of nature" in the art of poetry. It is no coincidence that artistic canvases were also created for haiku.

Size

Many readers are wondering how to write haiku. Examples of these poems show that haiku is a short work that consists of only three lines. In this case, the first line should contain five syllables, the second - seven, the third - also five. For centuries, haiku has been the main form of poetry. Brevity, semantic capacity and obligatory appeal to nature are the main characteristics of this genre. In fact, there are many more haiku addition rules. It's hard to believe, but in Japan the art of compiling such miniatures has been taught for decades. And painting lessons were also added to these classes.

The Japanese also understand haiku as a work consisting of three phrases of 5, 7, 5 syllables. The difference in the perception of these poems by different peoples lies in the fact that in other languages ​​they are usually written in three lines. In Japanese, they are written in one line. And earlier they could be seen written from top to bottom.

Haiku Poems: Examples for Children

Quite often, schoolchildren receive homework assignments to learn or compose haiku. These short poems are easy to read and quick to remember. This is demonstrated by the following example of haiku (2nd grade is too early to learn Japanese poetry, but if necessary, students can refer to this three-verse):

The sun is setting
And cobwebs too
Melt in the dusk...

The author of this laconic poem is Basho. Despite the capacity of three lines, the reader must use his imagination and partly take part in the creative work of the Japanese poet. The following haiku is also written by Basho. In it, the poet depicts the carefree life of a little bird:

In the meadows free
The lark is filled with song
No work or worries...

Kigo

Many readers are wondering how to write haiku in Russian. Examples of these verses show that one of the main features of this genre of poetry is the correlation of the internal state of a person with the time of year. This rule can also be used in composing your own haiku. In the rules of classical versification, the use of a special “seasonal” word, kigo, was obligatory. It is a word or phrase that indicates the time of year described in the poem.

For example, the word "snow" would indicate winter. The phrase "moon in a haze" may indicate the onset of spring. The mention of sakura (Japanese cherry) will also point to spring. The word kinge - "goldfish" - will indicate that the poet depicts summer in his poem. This custom of using the kigo came to the haiku genre from other forms. However, these words also help the poet choose concise words, give the meaning of the work even greater depth.

The following haiku example will tell about summer:

The sun is shining.
The birds were quiet at noon.
Summer has come.

And after reading the following Japanese three-verse, you can understand that the described season is spring:

Cherry blossoms.
Dali was shrouded in mist.
Dawn has come.

Two parts in a tercet

Another characteristic feature of haiku is the use of the "cutting word" or kireji. For this, Japanese poets used various words - for example, I, kana, keri. However, they are not translated into Russian, because they have a very vague meaning. In fact, they represent a kind of semantic mark that divides the three-verse into two parts. When translating into other languages, a dash or an exclamation mark is usually used instead of kireji.

Departure from the generally accepted norm

There are always such artists or poets who seek to break the generally accepted, classical rules. The same goes for writing haiku. If the standard for writing these three lines suggests a 5-7-5 structure, the use of "cutting" and "seasonal" words, then at all times there were innovators who, in their work, sought to ignore these prescriptions. There is an opinion that haiku, in which there is no seasonal word, should be attributed to the group of senryu - humorous verses. However, such a categorization does not take into account the existence of flour - haiku, in which there is no indication of the season, and which simply does not need it to reveal its meaning.

haiku no season word

Consider an example of haiku that can be attributed to this group:

cat walking
Down the city street
The windows are open.

Here, an indication of what time of the year the animal left the house does not matter - the reader can observe the picture of the cat leaving the house, completing the complete picture in his imagination. Maybe something happened at home that the owners did not pay attention to the open window, and the cat, slipping through it, went for a long walk. Maybe the mistress of the house is anxiously waiting for her four-legged pet to return. In this example of haiku, it is not necessary to indicate the season to describe feelings.

Is there always a hidden meaning in Japanese verses?

Looking at various examples of haiku, one can see the simplicity of these three lines. Many of them have no hidden meaning. They describe ordinary natural phenomena perceived by the poet. The following example of haiku in Russian, written by the famous Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, describes a picture of nature:

On a dead branch
Raven blackens.
Autumn evening.

This haiku differs from the Western poetic tradition. Many of them have no hidden meaning, they reflect the true principles of Zen Buddhism. In the West, it is customary to fill every thing with hidden symbols. The following example of nature haiku, also written by Basho, does not make this sense:

I'm walking up the path to the mountain.
ABOUT! How wonderful!
Violet!

General and particular in haiku

It is known that the cult of nature is characteristic of the Japanese people. In the Land of the Rising Sun, the surrounding world is treated in a very special way - for its inhabitants, nature is a separate spiritual world. In haiku, the motive of the universal connection of things is manifested. The specific things that are described in three lines are always connected with the general cycle, they become part of a series of endless changes. Even the four seasons of the year are divided by Japanese poets into shorter sub-seasons.

First drop
Fell from the sky on my hand.
Autumn has come.

James Hackett, who was one of the most influential Western writers of haiku, believed that these three lines convey feelings "as they are." Namely, this is characteristic of Basho's poetry, which shows the immediacy of the current moment. Hackett gives the following tips for writing your own haiku:

• The source of the poem should be life itself. They can and should describe daily events that at first glance seem ordinary.
• When composing haiku, one should contemplate nature in close proximity.
• It is necessary to identify oneself with what is described in the three lines.
• It is always better to think alone.
• Better to use plain language.
• It is advisable to mention the time of year.
• Haiku should be simple, clear.

Hackett also said that anyone who wants to create beautiful haiku should remember Basho's words: "A haiku is a finger that points to the moon." If this finger is decorated with rings, then the attention of the audience will be riveted to these jewels, and not to the heavenly body. The finger does not need any decorations. In other words, various rhymes, metaphors, comparisons and other literary devices are superfluous in haiku.

Haiku (sometimes haiku) are short, non-rhyming poems that use the language of sensation to express emotions and images. Haiku are often inspired by the elements of nature, moments of beauty and harmony, or strong emotions experienced. The genre of haiku poetry was created in Japan, and later began to be used by poets all over the world, including Russia. After reading this article, you will be able to get to know haiku better, as well as learn how to compose haiku yourself.

Steps

Understanding the Structure of Haiku

Familiarize yourself with the sound structure of haiku. Traditional Japanese haiku is made up of 17 ons, or sounds, divided into three parts: 5 sounds, 7 sounds, and 5 sounds. In Russian, "he" is equated to a syllable. Since its inception, the haiku genre has undergone some changes, and today many haiku authors, neither Japanese nor Russian, adhere to the 17-syllable structure.

• Syllables in Russian can consist of a different number of letters, in contrast to Japanese, in which almost all syllables are the same length. Therefore, a haiku of 17 syllables in Russian can be much longer than a similar Japanese one, thus violating the concept of deeply describing an image with several sounds. As mentioned, the 5-7-5 form is no longer considered mandatory, but this is not specified in the school curriculum, and most students learn haiku based on conservative standards.
• When writing a haiku, if you cannot decide on the number of syllables, then refer to the Japanese rule that haiku should be read in one breath. This means that the length of haiku in Russian can vary from 6 to 16 syllables. For example, read Kobayashi Issa's haiku translated by V. Markova:
  • Ah, don't trample the grass! There were fireflies Yesterday at night.

1. Use a haiku to compare two ideas. Japanese word kiru, which means cutting, refers to the very important principle of breaking a haiku into two parts. These parts should not depend on each other grammatically and figuratively.

   • In Japanese, haiku are often written on the same line, with contrasting ideas separated by kireji, or cutting word, which helps to define ideas, the relationship between them and give the poem grammatical completeness. Usually kireji placed at the end of a sound phrase. Due to the lack of a direct translation, kireji in Russian it is denoted by a dash, ellipsis, or simply by meaning. Notice how Buson separated the two ideas in one of his haiku:
     • I hit with an ax and froze ... What a scent wafted in the winter forest!
   • In Russian, haiku is usually written in three lines. Matched ideas (of which there should be no more than two) are "cut" by the end of one line and the beginning of another, or by punctuation marks, or simply by a space. Here is how it looks like in the example of the Russian translation of Buson's haiku:
     • Plucked peony - And I'm lost. Evening hour
   • One way or another, the main thing is to create a transition between the two parts, as well as to deepen the meaning of the poem by adding the so-called "internal comparison". Successfully creating such a two-part structure is one of the most difficult tasks in haiku writing. Indeed, for this it is necessary not only to avoid too obvious, banal transitions, but also not to make this transition completely indefinite.

Choose a Haiku Topic

1. Concentrate on some acute experience. Haiku traditionally focuses on the details of the setting and environment related to the human condition. Haiku is something like contemplation, expressed as an objective description of images or sensations, not distorted by subjective judgments and analysis. Use the moments when you notice something that you immediately want to draw the attention of others to write haiku.

   • Japanese poets have traditionally tried to convey fleeting images of nature with haiku, such as a frog jumping into a pond, raindrops falling on leaves, or a flower blowing in the wind. Many people go on special walks, known in Japan as ginkgo walks, to find inspiration for composing haiku.
   • Modern haiku do not always describe nature. They can also have completely different themes, such as the urban environment, emotions, relationships between people. There is also a separate subgenre of comic haiku.

2. Include mention of the seasons. Mention of the seasons or their change, or "seasonal word" - kigo in Japanese, has always been an important element of haiku. Such a reference may be direct and obvious, that is, a simple mention of the name of one or more seasons, or it may take the form of a subtle allusion. For example, the poem may mention the flowering of wisteria, which, as you know, happens only in summer. Notice the kigo in the following haiku by Fukuda Chie-ni:

   • During the night the bindweed wrapped around Around the tub of my well... I'll take water from a neighbor!

3. Create a story transition. Following the principle of juxtaposing two ideas in a haiku, use perspective shifts when describing a chosen topic to divide the poem into two parts. For example, you describe how an ant crawls on a log, then compare this picture with a larger image of the entire forest, or, for example, the time of year in which the described scene takes place. Such a comparison of images gives the poem a deeper metaphorical meaning than a one-sided description. As an example, let's take Vladimir Vasiliev's haiku:

   • Indian summer… Over the street preacher Children laugh.

Use the language of feelings

Become a Haiku Poet

1. Look for inspiration. Following ancient traditions, leave the house in search of inspiration. Go for a walk, concentrating on your surroundings. What details stand out to you? Why are they remarkable?

   • Always carry a notepad with you so you can write down the lines that pop into your head. After all, you will not be able to predict at what moment a pebble lying in a stream, a rat running along the rails, or whimsical clouds flying across the sky will inspire you to write another haiku.
   • Read haiku by other authors. The brevity and beauty of this genre has served as a source of inspiration for thousands of poets from all over the world. Reading other people's haiku will help you become familiar with the various techniques of the genre, as well as inspire you to write your own poetry.

2. Practice. Like any other art form, haiku writing requires practice. The great Japanese poet Matsuo Basho once said, "Repeat your poems aloud a thousand times." Therefore, rewrite your poems as many times as necessary to achieve perfect expression of your thoughts. Remember that you don't have to follow the 5-7-5 form. Also remember that haiku written according to literary standards must include kigo, a two-part form, and also create an objective picture of reality in the language of sensations.

   Connect with other poets. If you are seriously interested in haiku poetry, then you should join a club or community of lovers of this genre. There are such organizations all over the world. It is also worth subscribing to a haiku magazine or reading haiku magazines online to help you become more familiar with the structure of haiku and the rules for composing them.

• Haiku is also called "unfinished" poetry. This means that the reader must himself, in his soul, finish the poem.
• Some modern authors write haiku, which are small fragments of three or fewer words.
• Haiku has its roots in haikai no renga, a genre of poetry in which poems were composed by groups of authors and were hundreds of lines long. The haiku, or the first three lines of the renga poem chain, indicated the season and contained a "cutting" word (by the way, this is why haiku is sometimes erroneously called haiku). Having become an independent genre, haiku continues this tradition.

The beauty of poetry enchants almost all people. No wonder they say that music can tame even the most ferocious beast. This is where the beauty of creativity sinks deep into the soul. How are the poems different? Why are the Japanese three-line haiku so attractive? And how to learn to perceive their deep meaning?

The beauty of Japanese poetry

The light of the moon and the fragile tenderness of the morning snow inspire Japanese poets to create three-line poems of unusual brightness and depth. Japanese haiku is a poem characterized by lyricism. In addition, it may be unfinished and leave room for imagination and thoughtful reflection. Haiku (or haiku) poetry does not tolerate haste or harshness. The philosophy of these creations of the soul is directed directly to the hearts of the listeners and reflects the hidden thoughts and secrets of the writer. The common people are very fond of creating these short poetic formulas, where there are no superfluous words, and the style harmoniously passes from folk to literary, continuing to develop and give rise to new poetic forms.

The emergence of a national poetic form

The original poetic forms, so famous in Japan, are five-line and three-line lines (tanka and haiku). Tanka is literally interpreted as a short song. Initially, this was the name of folk songs that appeared at the dawn of Japanese history. Nagauts, which were distinguished by their excessive length, were forced out into the tank. Epic and lyrical songs of variable length have been preserved in folklore. Many years later, Japanese haiku separated from tanka during the heyday of urban culture. Hokku contains all the wealth In the history of poetry in Japan there were periods of both prosperity and decline. There were also moments when Japanese haiku could disappear altogether. But over a long period of time, it became obvious that short and capacious poetic forms are a necessity and an urgent need for poetry. Such forms of poetry can be composed quickly, under a storm of emotions. You can put your hot thought into metaphors or aphorisms, making it memorable, reflecting praise or reproach with it.

Characteristic features of Japanese poetry

Japanese haiku poetry is distinguished by its desire for conciseness, conciseness of forms, love for minimalism, which is inherent in Japanese national art, which is universal and can create minimalistic and monumental images with equal virtuosity. Why is Japanese haiku so popular and attractive? First of all, this is a concise thought, reflected by the thoughts of ordinary citizens who are wary of the traditions of classical poetry. Japanese haiku becomes the bearer of a capacious idea and most of all responds to the demands of growing generations. The beauty of Japanese poetry is in the depiction of those objects that are close to every person. It shows the life of nature and man in harmonious unity against the backdrop of the changing seasons. Japanese poetry is syllabic, with a rhythm based on the alternation of the number of syllables. Rhyme in haiku is unimportant, but the sound and rhythmic organization of the three-line is primary.

The size of the poems

Only the unenlightened think that this original verse has no parameters and no limitations. Japanese haiku has a fixed meter with a certain number of syllables. Each verse has its own number: in the first - five, in the second - seven, and in the third - only seventeen syllables. But this does not limit poetic liberty in any way. A real creator will never reckon with the meter in achieving poetic expressiveness.

The small size of haiku makes even a European sonnet monumental. The art of writing Japanese haiku lies precisely in the ability to express thoughts in a concise form. In this respect, haiku bears a resemblance to folk proverbs. The main differences between such proverbs and haiku lie in genre features. Japanese haiku is not an edifying saying, not a well-aimed witticism, but a poetic picture, framed in a few strokes. The task of the poet is in the lyrical excitement, the flight of the imagination and the detail of the picture. Japanese haiku has examples even in the works of Chekhov. In his letters, he describes the beauty of moonlit nights, stars and black shadows.

Necessary elements of the work of Japanese poets

The way of creating Japanese three-line poems requires the maximum activity of the writer, complete immersion in creativity. It is impossible to simply skim through the collection of haiku without focusing attention. Each poem requires thoughtful reading and philosophical reflection. A passive reader will not be able to feel the impulse inherent in the content of creation. Only with the joint work of the thoughts of the reader and the creator, true art is born, just as the swing of the bow and the trembling of the string give birth to music. The miniature size of the haiku does not at all make it easier for the creator, because it means that you need to fit the immensity into a small number of words, and there is simply no time for a lengthy presentation of your thoughts. In order not to expound the meaning hastily, the writer looks for a climax in every phenomenon.

Heroes of Japanese haiku

Many poets express their thoughts and emotions in haiku by giving the main role to a specific object. Some poets reflect the people's worldview with a loving depiction of small forms and the assertion of their right to life. Poets stand up in their creations for insects, amphibians, simple peasants and gentlemen. Therefore, the examples of Japanese haiku three-line examples have a social sound. The emphasis on small forms allows you to paint a picture of a large scale.

The beauty of nature in verse

Japanese haiku about nature is akin to painting, as it often becomes the transmission of the plot of paintings and a source of inspiration for artists. Sometimes haiku is a special component of a painting, which is served as a calligraphic inscription under it. A striking example of such a work is Buson's three-verse:
"Curse flowers around. The sun goes out in the west. The moon rises in the east."

Wide fields are described, covered with yellow colza flowers, which seem especially bright in the rays of sunset. The fiery solar ball effectively contrasts with the pallor of the rising moon. There are no details in haiku showing the effect of lighting and a palette of colors, but it offers a new look at the picture. The grouping of the main elements and details of the picture depends on the poet. The laconic manner of depiction makes Japanese haiku related to ukiyo-e color engraving:

The spring rain is pouring!
They talk along the way
Umbrella and mino.

This Buson haiku is a genre scene in the spirit of ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Its meaning is in the conversation of two passers-by under the spring rain. One of them is covered with an umbrella, and the second is dressed in a straw cloak - mino. The peculiarity of this haiku is the fresh breath of spring and subtle humor, close to the grotesque.

Images in the poems of Japanese poets

The poet who creates Japanese haiku often prefers not visual, but sound images. Each sound is filled with a special meaning, feeling and mood. The howl of the wind, the chirping of cicadas, the cries of a pheasant, the singing of a nightingale and a lark, the voice of a cuckoo can be reflected in the poem. This is how haiku is remembered, describing a whole orchestra that sounds in the forest.

The lark sings.
With a ringing blow in the thicket
The pheasant echoes him.
(Basho)

Readers do not have a three-dimensional panorama of associations and images, but a thought awakens with certain directions. The poems resemble a monochrome ink drawing, without unnecessary details. Only a few skillfully selected elements help to create a brilliant picture of late autumn in its brevity. One feels the pre-wind silence and the sad immobility of nature. The light contour of the image nevertheless has an increased capacity and fascinates with its depth. And even if only nature is described in the poem, the state of the poet's soul, his painful loneliness, is felt.

Flight of the reader's imagination

The appeal of haiku lies in the feedback. Only this poetic form allows you to have equal opportunities with writers. The reader becomes a co-author. And he can be guided by his imagination in depicting the image. Together with the poet, the reader experiences sadness, shares anguish and plunges into the depths of personal experiences. Over the long centuries of existence, ancient haiku have not become less profound. Japanese haiku rather does not show, but hints and prompts. The poet Issa expressed his longing for the dead child in haiku:

Our life is a dewdrop.
Let only a drop of dew
Our life is still...

At the same time, dew is a metaphor for the frailty of life. Buddhism teaches the brevity and ephemeral nature of human life and its low value. But still, the father cannot come to terms with the loss of a loved one and cannot treat life like a philosopher. His silence at the end of the stanza says more than words.

Inconsistency in hockey

An obligatory element of Japanese haiku is reticence and the ability to independently continue the line of the creator. Most often, the verse contains two significant words, and the rest is formalities and exclamations. All unnecessary details are discarded, leaving the bare facts without embellishment. Poetic means are selected very sparingly, since, if possible, metaphors and epithets are not used. It also happens that Japanese haiku verses are but at the same time the direct meaning lies in the subtext.

From the heart of a peony
The bee crawls slowly...
Oh, with what reluctance!

Basho wrote this poem at the moment of parting with his friend's house and clearly conveyed all the emotions.

The Japanese position of haiku was and remains an innovative art that belongs to ordinary people: merchants, artisans, peasants and even beggars. Sincere feelings and natural emotions inherent in every person make people of different classes related.