Haiku History

Haiku Hostory
Haikus are a Japanese form of poetry which were first known as ‘Hokkus‘ rather than haikus the time that it came out. It is a very short form of poetry which is only three lines. It was developed in Japan during the 16th and 17th century from Renga, which is a collaborative poem. The father of haiku is known as Matsuo Basho. There are two other people along with Basho who have been known as the founders of haikus whose names were Buson and Issa.
The history of Haiku’s began in the 1600’s by Matsuo Basho who is considered to be the father of haiku and is known as the first great poet of haiku. He started writing in his journal after he strayed away from writing traditional Japanese poems. It was first called ‘Hokku’ which was the opening stanza of a Japanese poem that had seventeen syllables altogether. It was seen as an independent poem that included prose with paintings. Then it got changed to “Haiku” by Masaoka Shiki during the late 19th century. Matsuo Basho’s poems were focused on a feeling of lightness. Basically living a life with no stress or worries. His poems were based on nature, seasons, feelings, and experiences. The simple form of a Haiku is just three lines, simple words, and grammar.
Today haiku’s are combined with paintings to tell stories and explain the poem a little bit more. There were two famous poets who were known for combining painting with their poems to get their story and meaning of their poems across to readers. Issa’s haiku style is part traditional which to him is very unique. When he writes a haiku, the readers automatically knows what he writes about which are five seasons. The five seasons that he mainly writes about is New Year’s season, spring, summer, autumn and winter. He combined his haiku’s with his paintings known as ‘haiga.’ Haiga is used to tell a story and the meaning of a haiku by using images. Yosa Buson was the main haiku poet in the 18th century who was also known as Taniguchi Buson. He was the center of the Basho movement of 1776. It was an era where Matsuo Basho’s poetic forms of haikus were returning to Japanese literature. Basho’s poems had a huge influence on Yosa Buson that Buson spent most of his time trying to accomplish what Matsuo Basho has accomplished during his time as a poet. For his paintings to be really good, he studied both Japanese and Chinese art which in the end helped him accomplish his goal of becoming a great poet just like Matsuo Basho. When he did his paintings he used a different name to release his paintings. The name he used was Sha-In.
The structure of haikus has 17 syllables altogether and doesn’t have to rhyme at all. Haiku’s are traditional Japanese poems written in three lines with a rule that’s called 5-7-5. There are 5 syllables for the first and third. The second line has 7 syllables. The most well known poets for haiku’s are Matsuo Basho who is known to many as the father of haiku’s since he strayed away from the traditional way of writing poems. Haiku’s are more focused on nature, the seasons, life, and experiences. Also about people and their every day lives.
Haiku’s are simple, three line poems that have been in traditional Japanese literature for many centuries. It had been influenced by Matsuo Basho, Issa, and Yosa Buson’s different styles and techniques. In later years of Basho, haiku’s were made along with poems to tell the story of the poems and the meaning of the poems. The name ‘haiku’ was given to the short-formed poem by Masaoka Shiki which is what many people today know it as.


Haikus

Car Rides
Car rides are so fun
When you get dizzy and barf
Your fun is over
I love car rides because when driving I can think more and driving in a car is when I’m at ease. Driving for hours to different cities and states is when I especially love car rides. Me and my family were driving down to the city one day. I hadn’t eaten anything at all because it was really early in the morning, probably about 7:00 A.M. in the morning when we left home. We stopped by a rest stop along the way. There I used the restroom and after grabbed something to eat. I didn’t get to finish eating so I had to eat in the car. After I was done eating, I had no idea how I felt so dizzy. I told my dad to stop at the side of the road so I can get out. When I got out, I couldn’t hold anything back in. Everything I had eaten that morning was out in ten seconds. The rest of the ride to the city wasn’t so fun. The entire time, I felt dizzy and tired.
Stars
Stars are every where
Except not here above the sky
There is too much light
Since I live where there is a lot of lights, stars are hard to see. It’s very difficult to see many stars in the night when you live in the city which is full of streetlights and lights from buildings. I wish I could see the stars in the sky to know what lies. I remember when I went North Carolina last year and I saw many stars in the sky. I was angry at how long it took to get there. I couldn’t stand that long drive. After seeing the stars I was glad that I went and put up with the long drive.






















Work Cited
http://www.ahapoetry.com/HAIKU.HTM
http://www.litkicks.com/HistoryOfHaiku/
http://ship.code.u-air.ac.jp/~saga/sekka1.html