(noise) A footnote on memorial haiku

[AjD]

Strictly speaking, the majority of these memorial haiku are actually haikai.

The distinction is not in the syllable count but in the content: Haiku are
by definition poems which include seasonal reference (as well as an attempt
to evoke a great deal more than it actually articulates); Haikai are
humorous poems without restrictions to content. While the two terms were
once originally synonymous (as well as Hokku and Renga), refinement of the
Haiku (in the hands of Basho and Buson), and the works of Matsunaga Teitoku
in the haikai anthology Enoku Shuu helped establish a distinction between
the forms.

Not that this is entirely relevant. A nation's population which has
sloppily conflated 'less' with 'fewer', 'its' with 'it's', and 'flout' with
'flaunt' can hardly be expected to get words from a foreign language right.

AjD
language on decline
the sky becomes grey like bark
without leaves on trees
--
the return address in the header will not help you.
unsolicited advertising: www.vestigial.com/
a j d at v e s t i g i a l dot c o m

[Room 101]

On Sat, 22 Nov 1997, AjD wrote:
>
> The distinction is not in the syllable count but in the content: Haiku are
> by definition poems which include seasonal reference (as well as an attempt
> to evoke a great deal more than it actually articulates); Haikai are
> humorous poems without restrictions to content. While the two terms were
> once originally synonymous (as well as Hokku and Renga), refinement of the
> Haiku (in the hands of Basho and Buson), and the works of Matsunaga Teitoku
> in the haikai anthology Enoku Shuu helped establish a distinction between
> the forms.

You almost got it. "Haikai" is a shortened version of "Haikai no renga",
the form that evolved out of renga (actually, haikai, hokku and haiku were
all once parts of a renga.) Haikai best reflect the original form, which
were stanzas of renga, and which were meant to be doggerel, witty, etc.

The fact that Basho's joke on the universe evolved into an artform is,
well, hsssstory.

wenchpoet
Former Editor
Lynx Journal of Renga
(mentored by John Cage)

*******************************************************
Has anyone considered the devastating effect of letting
antipasta and pasta come into contact with each other?
-- Jim Pearson