Along the river
I saw no bridge –
This day is endless.
– Masaoka Shiki
A form of Japanese poetry that originated in the 17th century and is attributed to the poet Bashō Mastuo, the haiku always follows the same construction of 17 mores divided into three lines as follows: 5, 7, 5 syllables. It is in its brevity that everything is created.
It’s all about suggestion rather than expression. The interpretation of a haiku is subjective, and can vary for the same soul depending on the moment of life. It is often imbued with subtle humour and evokes an element of nature such as a landscape or a season (kigo).
From the end of the 19th century onwards, a number of Western poets tried their hand at it, more or less respecting its original form and playing with the number of mores to get round the difficulty of the established rule. They include Paul Éluard (Pour Vivre ici, 1920) and, more recently, Stéphanie Le Bail (Le bruit de l’eau, 2013).
It’s soothing to write one yourself, so liberating is the rigour mixed with the gentleness of the exercise.
Here’s a second one for this last month of summer.
Summer mountain
Lonely snow
Even the night shines.
– Kato Shuson
