An Approach to Basho’s Haiku: Principle and Western Ideas
Randy Smith
Dr. Roshan Benjamin Malik
Humanities 202-004
24 November 2008
An Approach To Basho’s Haiku: Principle and Western Ideas
Ordinarily, it is mostly common for readers new to haiku, particularly Basho’s haiku, to find it immensely difficult to understand. Substantially, it is for good reasons to find difficulty with Basho‘s haiku. For one, it forms a mental images in the readers mind arousing…
An Approach to Basho’s Haiku: Principles and Western Ideas
Ordinarily, it is mostly common for readers new to haiku, particularly Basho’s haiku, to find it immensely difficult to understand. Substantially, it is for good reasons to find difficulty with Basho‘s haiku. For one, it forms mental images in the readers mind arousing “emotions solely by rendering concrete objects, sounds and aspects” (Yasuda 4). Secondly, “Verses are not, as people imagine, simple feelings; they are experiences” (Yasuda 11). It is for these reasons above that an approach to Basho’s haiku is worth mentioning. The best qualified person to inform readers new to haiku to develop a more thorough, appreciative understanding of haiku is Matsuo Basho (1644-94). Notable, Basho is recognized as the master of haiku, a Japanese verse form “(a three-lined poem of 17 syllables consisting of lines following the 5-7-5 syllabic pattern)” (Jackson second edition 753). Not only was Basho a great poet, also he was a talented teacher of haiku. Basho taught his disciples certain poetic principles that were set apart from other poets and are still “the highest ideal for most Japanese haiku poets today” ( Ueda423). Also, additional insight that offers an understanding of haiku poetry is Western aesthetic principles. Kenneth Yasuda, a Western scholar, concepts of the “aesthetic attitude”’, the “aesthetic experience” and the “haiku moment” are closely connected to Basho principle of haiku, thereby worth explaining. Although, Japanese haiku are written in a simple compact form, Yasuda states
Dr. Roshan Benjamin Malik
Humanities 202-004
24 November 2008
An Approach To Basho’s Haiku: Principle and Western Ideas
Ordinarily, it is mostly common for readers new to haiku, particularly Basho’s haiku, to find it immensely difficult to understand. Substantially, it is for good reasons to find difficulty with Basho‘s haiku. For one, it forms a mental images in the readers mind arousing…
An Approach to Basho’s Haiku: Principles and Western Ideas
Ordinarily, it is mostly common for readers new to haiku, particularly Basho’s haiku, to find it immensely difficult to understand. Substantially, it is for good reasons to find difficulty with Basho‘s haiku. For one, it forms mental images in the readers mind arousing “emotions solely by rendering concrete objects, sounds and aspects” (Yasuda 4). Secondly, “Verses are not, as people imagine, simple feelings; they are experiences” (Yasuda 11). It is for these reasons above that an approach to Basho’s haiku is worth mentioning. The best qualified person to inform readers new to haiku to develop a more thorough, appreciative understanding of haiku is Matsuo Basho (1644-94). Notable, Basho is recognized as the master of haiku, a Japanese verse form “(a three-lined poem of 17 syllables consisting of lines following the 5-7-5 syllabic pattern)” (Jackson second edition 753). Not only was Basho a great poet, also he was a talented teacher of haiku. Basho taught his disciples certain poetic principles that were set apart from other poets and are still “the highest ideal for most Japanese haiku poets today” ( Ueda423). Also, additional insight that offers an understanding of haiku poetry is Western aesthetic principles. Kenneth Yasuda, a Western scholar, concepts of the “aesthetic attitude”’, the “aesthetic experience” and the “haiku moment” are closely connected to Basho principle of haiku, thereby worth explaining. Although, Japanese haiku are written in a simple compact form, Yasuda states
Cited: Hume, Nancy G. Japanese Aesthetics and Culture. State University of New York Press, Albany: State University of New York, 1995 Jackson, Wendell. Humanities in the Modern World An Africana Emphasis. United States: Pearson Custom, 2001 Ueda, Makoto. “Basho and the Poetics O Haiku.” The Journal O Aesthetics and Art Criticism Vol. 21. No 4 (Summer, 1963) pp. 423-431. Yasuda, Kenneth. The Japanese Haiku. Charles E. Tuttle Company of Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan: Japan, 1957