March 29, 2002

4:51 PM

Here at Metafilter - as in many other places on the web - we spend a lot of time talking about (and in) Haiku. For some reason the web-enabled generation has come to think of Haiku as a hip, funny, and somewhat ironic way to express ... anything. But lest we forget that Haiku is, first and foremost, a beautiful, traditonal art form. How many of you out there know much about the history of Haiku? Did you know that Japan is full of monuments to Haiku? Have you heard of or read any of the great traditional haiku poets, like Masaoka Shiki, the man for whom the International Haiku Award is named? If you enjoy reading traditional-style Haiku, you can read any number of magazines devoted exclusively to Haiku. Many of us have not tried to write Haiku since Junior High - do you perhaps need some instructions on how to write Haiku? If you really enjoy reading or writing Haiku, perhaps you might wish to join the Haiku Society of America. And, of course, if you wish to know more about Haiku, there are any number of other resources out on the web.
posted by anastasiav (26 comments total)

anastasiav
wrote one real long front page post
anybody like toast?
posted by msacheson at 4:55 PM on March 29, 2002

I blew it! 5-7-6
how 'bout:

anastasiav
wrote one real long front page post
anyone like toast?
posted by msacheson at 4:56 PM on March 29, 2002

I hate this Haiku japcrap. I also hate posts with over a dozen links in them. And you didn't even provide a link to Haiku Canada.
posted by Keen at 5:04 PM on March 29, 2002

I'll take this opportunity to share my two favorite Basho haiku:

It's like nothing
That they compare it to:
The summer moon.

Even in Kyoto,
Listening to the cuckoos,
I long for Kyoto.

Those are basically composites of the various translations I've heard, rearranged to be as close as possible to 5-7-5.
posted by mr_roboto at 5:09 PM on March 29, 2002

Seventeen small syllables
Lined up in a row
Is this art, or what?
posted by kirkaracha at 5:09 PM on March 29, 2002

Well, at least looks interesting....that's quite a lot of work to put in on a Friday post, though...

as spring breezes blow
front page post looks interesting
time to click the link!
posted by bunnyfire at 5:12 PM on March 29, 2002

Danny O'Brien's
snazzy piece of python code
finds haiku's in plaintext
posted by inpHilltr8r at 5:12 PM on March 29, 2002

My post would have made a lot more sense if the link I put in had shown up. darn....
posted by bunnyfire at 5:15 PM on March 29, 2002

Hiya, bunny. Good to see ya again.
posted by jonmc at 5:24 PM on March 29, 2002

kinda like memepool
really big post with lots of links
think I need a drink
posted by internal at 6:03 PM on March 29, 2002

I really don't think MeFi has been spending a lot of time talking about, and in, haiku.. But if you are offended by lack of delicate sensibility, you can just call it "senryu" instead. Senryu is more society and satire oriented haiku which doesn't require seasonal references.

Speaking of Japanese art, check out the sumi-e exhibit I went to last night at the Kyoto National Museum. A few comments and pics on my site as well. Sumi-e is the name of the guy who invented the photoshop filter ;-)
posted by planetkyoto at 6:13 PM on March 29, 2002

internal makes post
realizes it sounds like msacheson
oops, no mean copy
posted by internal at 6:16 PM on March 29, 2002

Oh, come on--it's not that long. Soundbiters, grr... Nice post, anastasiav. I must confess I am somewhat ambivalent about haiku in English. It's my understanding that a lot more is packed in Nihongo. On the other hand,
my favorite in translation,

The world of dew
Is the world of dew.
And yet, and yet...

is only twelve syllables. Ah, and now I find out it was written on the death of his child.
posted by y2karl at 6:20 PM on March 29, 2002

I really don't think MeFi has been spending a lot of time talking about, and in, haiku.

I'd disagree, considering yesterday's Haiku-fest in the Social Life of Paper thread (now sadly gone because it was a double post), and today's subsequent MetaTalk discussion about it and similar posts.

But if you are offended by lack of delicate sensibility, you can just call it "senryu" instead.

On the contrary, I'm not at all offended. I'm always thrilled to find another Spam-ku or Haiku's In Plain-text site, because poetry (in all forms) is at its best when its a living, breathing thing. Too often people seem to think of poems are dry, dusty artifacts, designed only to be read in school. The prominence of Haiku as a popular form of web communication and commentary is endlessly fascinating to me. I've often wondered if its because the best Haiku echoes the best web design/coding: highly controlled, using each element to its fullest impact.

I think the periodic outbursts of Haiku on Metafilter are one of the things that set it apart (and high above) from other sites. I guess you could say that I agree wholeheartedly with jonmc:

"Other online communities get cusskiddies and hate-posting when things get weird. MeFi gets haikus. Haikus for crying out loud. That says a lot for the crew we have here IMHO."

posted by anastasiav at 6:39 PM on March 29, 2002

I'd disagree

I think the point is, it's not really haiku, strictly speaking. I don't think anyone could deny we do an awful lot of it here. Thank you, DoublePostGuy, wherever you are.
posted by rodii at 7:21 PM on March 29, 2002

I can't help repeating here a link to the rib-tickling bit in the recent New Yorker, "The Basho of Honk".
posted by Zurishaddai at 7:25 PM on March 29, 2002

Nice post, anastasiav.   Thank you.   I must confess I am somewhat ambivalent about haiku in English. It's my understanding that a lot more is packed in Nihongo.

You might then be interested in this article about the issues around translating Haiku. It uses another (quite famous) Basho Haiku as its example, and provides examples and analysis of some of the 170(!!) English-language translations of this one Haiku.
posted by anastasiav at 8:07 PM on March 29, 2002

A dog is barking.
Bark bark bark bark bark bark bark.
Bark bark bark bark bark
Dave Barry, 1998
posted by diddlegnome at 8:10 PM on March 29, 2002

when we killed that frog
it was pretty cool, heh heh
it won't croak again.
posted by twiggy at 8:49 PM on March 29, 2002

Is there still time to thank anastasiav for the amazing post? I read each and every link and can truly say I emerged a happier and more knowledgeable man. I can certainly now appreciate haiku here on MetaFilter(hey, most of them are duds!)all the more. My only contact with haiku was a slim volume of Basho. I wonder why they remain so popular in America.

Thanks!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:48 PM on March 29, 2002

Basho rocks.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:53 PM on March 29, 2002

A peculiar subgenre: mullet haiku. Mark Morford, the SF columnist who gets quoted here every once in a while for the amusing commentary in his "Morning Fix" emails, has been running an assortment. Googling "mullet haiku" yields 195 hits, which is just... bizarre. My favorite:
     brother squirrel
     your tail, my hair, they are one
     yet I must eat you
posted by JParker at 11:40 PM on March 29, 2002

"Haiku," many modern Japanese poets are fond of saying, "began and ended with Basho."
"MetaFilter," say the modern pundits, "neither began nor ended, because it is eternal."
posted by Mack Twain at 11:40 PM on March 29, 2002

anastasiav, great post. I'm especially liked the Takiguchi essay. Another form which might go over well here is the tanka.
posted by bragadocchio at 1:49 AM on March 30, 2002

thank you anastasiav. I must be really old, we never had the opportunity to learn Haiku when I was in school.
posted by redhead at 9:01 AM on March 30, 2002

it is funny because it ridicules culture and history. Isn't that much obvious?

how clueless are you
to respect is to stay still
[sfx : a gong]

from the python haiku finder (python being the best programming language ever):

Our service is
for those with who are looking
for better results.

We offer some of
the best bulk e-mail prices
on the Internet.

This is a legal,
professional business with
endless potential.
posted by Settle at 2:44 PM on March 30, 2002