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Japanese haiku have been traditionally composed in 5-7-5 syllables. When
poets started writing English haiku in the 1950s, they adopted this 5-7-5
form, thinking it created a similar condition for English-language haiku.
This style is what is generally considered "traditional" English
haiku.
Over the years, however, most haiku poets in North America have become
aware that 17 English syllables convey a great deal more information
than 17 Japanese syllables, and have come to write haiku in fewer
syllables,
most often in three segments that follow a short-long-short pattern
without a rigid structure. This style is called by some "free-form" haiku.
In this essay, I will discuss the linguistic circumstances that necessitate
shorter English haiku to be more loosely structured than Japanese haiku.
5- AND 7-SYLLABLE RHYTHMS IN THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE
The 5-7-5 syllable rhythm in Japanese haiku is not the matter of arbitrary
choice that it may appear to be to a non-Japanese haiku writer. Various
combinations of 5 and 7 syllables have dominated the Japanese literary
scene for most of its history, tanka (5-7-5-7-7) being the most prominent
example. To most Japanese, words phrased in these configurations have
a remarkably mnemonic, at times haunting quality, so much so that many
war and political propaganda have utilized
this
form:
hoshigarimasen (7) katsumadewa (5): "we want nothing till we win
(the war)"
kono dote-ni (5) noboru-bekarazu (7) keishichou (5): "Do Not Climb
This Levee - The Police Department"
Likewise, many Japanese aphorisms and proverbs as well as song lyrics,
including translations, take similar forms:
owariyokereba (7) subete yoshi (5): "All's well that ends well"*
hotaru-no hikari (7) mado-no yuki (5):
"the light of fireflies, snow by the window" [lyrics corresponding
to
"should auld acquaintance be forgot (8) and never brought to mind (6)?" in
Auld Lang Syne]**
Because of these rhythmic structures, Japanese haiku and tanka can
be memorized with little or no effort, which is one of the major
reasons for the longevity of these literary forms. On the other
hand, there
is no such inherent mnemonic quality to 5-7-5 English haiku, which
are
indeed
difficult to commit to memory. Moreover, there is no discernible
rhythmic structure to such an arrangement, due to the disparate
length of English
syllables. (The mnemonic quality of 5-7-5 Japanese phrases is much
closer to that of metered rhymes in English.) These factors combined
with the
fact that English carries significantly more information per syllable
than Japanese indicate that using the 5-7-5 form does not necessarily
provide an analogous condition for writing haiku in English.
This is not to say, however, that all who write in 5-7-5 should
stop doing so. I believe that 5-7-5 English haiku as a derivative
of Japanese
haiku
has its place in the world of poetry, just as 5-7-5 Chinese haiku
is another such derivative, seemingly containing about three times
as much
information
as a Japanese haiku.
THE LENGTH AND FORM OF ENGLISH HAIKU
Today, many bilingual poets and translators in the mainstream North
American haiku scene agree that something in the vicinity
of 11 English syllables
is a suitable approximation of 17 Japanese syllables,
in order to convey about the same amount of information as well as
the
brevity
and the
fragmented quality found in Japanese haiku. As to the
form, some American poets advocate
writing in 3-5-3 syllables or 2-3-2 accented beats. While
rigid structuring can be accomplished in 5-7-5 haiku with relative
ease due to a greater
degree of freedom provided by the extra syllables, such
structuring
in shorter haiku will have the effect of imposing much
more stringent rules
on English haiku than on Japanese haiku, thereby severely
limiting its potential.
THE FLEXIBILITY OF JAPANESE GRAMMAR
There are two major linguistic factors that make the Japanese
language more flexible, and thus easier to fit into
a rigid form such as
5-7-5. Both of these factors derive from the fact
that the grammatical units
in Japanese are largely independent, and are relatively
free to move about within a sentence.
1. Relative Freedom of Word Order
The English language owes much of its grammatical simplicity
to the fact that the word order plays a major role
in determining the relationships
between words and phrases (subject, object, etc.).
In such a language,
words and phrases cannot be moved about freely without
changing the meaning
of a sentence. For example, within a sentence such
as "Mother gave
it to the kitten," the words cannot be rearranged
without altering the meaning.
In the Japanese language, however, because of the
presence of grammatical particles (joshi)***
that are suffixed
to nouns and mark their syntactic
relationships, word units become independent and
can be moved about more freely within a sentence
or a
clause without affecting its
meaning. As
a result, the above sentence can be rearranged
in many ways in both spoken and written Japanese without
altering
its
core message.
1) haha-ga koneko-ni sore-o ageta mother/to the
kitten/it/gave
2) haha-ga sore-o koneko-ni ageta mother/it/to
the kitten/gave
3) sore-o koneko-ni haha-ga ageta it/to the
kitten/mother/gave
4) sore-o haha-ga koneko-ni ageta it/mother/to
the kitten/gave
5) koneko-ni sore-o haha-ga ageta to the kitten/it/mother/gave
6) koneko-ni haha-ga sore-o ageta to the kitten/mother/it/gave
Furthermore, if I were to add the word "yesterday" to the sentence,
the available options in English would be "Mother
gave it to the kitten yesterday," and "Yesterday,
mother gave it to the kitten." In
each of the above six Japanese versions, however, "yesterday
(kinou)" can
be inserted anywhere there is a space (including
the beginning of the sentence), except at
the very end, without significantly altering
the
meaning, thus multiplying the number of options
by a factor of four.
Therefore, "Mother
gave it to the kitten yesterday" can
be expressed in Japanese in twenty-four (6
x 4) different ways. Some of the alternatives
are smoother
than others, of course, but the least smooth
is still as natural as "Yesterday,
mother gave it to the kitten." Here,
I will only elaborate on #1 to demonstrate
the four possible alternatives.
Mother gave it to the kitten yesterday.
(1) haha-ga koneko-ni sore-o ageta + kinou:
kinou haha-ga koneko-ni sore-o ageta
haha-ga kinou koneko-ni sore-o ageta
haha-ga koneko-ni kinou sore-o ageta
haha-ga koneko-ni sore-o kinou ageta
In other words, noun phrases and many adverbs in the Japanese language
can be placed almost anywhere within a sentence except that the verbs
or verb phrases (including negations) must come at the end. In more
complex sentence structures than the one in the above example (i.e.,
two or more
sentences joined by conjunctives), the same degree of freedom holds
within each clause. While one option may be superior to others in
poetic terms,
having a multitude of alternative expressions at one's disposal allows
a Japanese haiku poet far more freedom within the 5-7-5 structure than
is available in English.
Moreover, in Japanese, some of the grammatical particles and the subject
of a sentence can be omitted depending on the context, which gives the
language further flexibility.
2. Relative Ease in Segmentation
This relative independence of grammatical components also results in
the ease in dividing a phrase into 5-7-5. In the above example, the
six Japanese
versions of "Mother gave it to the kitten" can be segmented
anywhere there is a space. Therefore, if they were to occur within
haiku or tanka (though very unlikely, since they are so unpoetic!),
there are
three equally plausible locations each sentence can be divided, whereas "Mother
gave it to the kitten" offers fewer options. Likewise, in the
case of "Mother gave it to the kitten yesterday," each of
the twenty-four possible Japanese sentences can be divided wherever
there is a space (four
locations).
Thus there are more places where a Japanese phrase can be divided without
disrupting its meaning. If English had the same degree of segmentation
flexibility as Japanese, the following haiku,
across the arroyo
deep scars
of a joy ride can be rewritten to approximate the 3-5-3 form as
across the
arroyo, deep scars
of a joy ride
without affecting the meaning. As it is, doing so sacrifices too much
in the flow of words and interferes with the image. Since Japanese haiku
are written on one line, with no spacing between the segments, there
is no danger of disrupting the flow in this manner. It is merely an
artifact
borne of the linguistic differences between the two languages and of
the three-line convention of English haiku that makes the former appear
as
if it does not have a classic form. The type of unnatural line breaks
seen in the latter is a problem associated with the 3-5-3 (or other
short) form, whereas the 5-7-5 form is long enough to accommodate
natural line
breaks dictated by the English grammar, due to a greater degree of freedom
provided by the extra syllables.
Thus we are in a bind, a catch twenty-two. If one wishes to have the
brevity and the fragmented quality of Japanese haiku in English haiku,
17 syllables
are too long. On the other hand, if a rigid structure is desired,
11 syllables are too short. One must choose between the two. The choice
depends on
which of the two factors a poet considers more important to haiku.
The
majority of contemporary English-haiku poets have let go of the tight
forms in favor of brevity to develop the mainstream North American
haiku.
THE UNDERLYING STRUCTURES OF THE CLASSIC JAPANESE HAIKU
As demonstrated above, 5-7-5 segmentation is not a division based
on content as we think of it in English. Strictly in terms of
content, the classic
Japanese haiku are composed of two major parts of varying lengths,
such
as 5-12, 12-5, 8-9, 9-8, 7-10, and 10-7, in the generally decreasing
order of prevalence, with the first two being the most prevalent.
Here are some
examples from the great masters (with a literal translation by
the author):
yuku haru-ya (5) tori naki uo-no me-ni namida (12) — Basho
spring passing –birds cry, tears in the eyes of fish
neko-no meshi shoubansuru-ya (12) suzume-no-ko (5) — Issa
sampling the cat's food –a baby sparrow
ware-to kite asobe-ya (9) oya-no nai suzume (8) — Issa
come
play with me –you motherless sparrow
uguisu-no naku-ya (8) chiisaki kuchi akete (9) — Buson
uguisu singing –(uguisu: a nightingale-like bird) with the
small mouth open
A close observation of "free-form" English haiku reveals that
they are composed of two major segments. The majority of them are divided
after the first or the second line and the rest near the middle, and thus
they are in accord with the underlying structures of the classic Japanese
haiku.
In writing short English haiku, the decision as to where the division
falls is based mainly on the dictates of English grammar and the poetic
merits of given expressions. To limit short haiku to those that can
be fitted into a rigid three-part structure is to severely limit the
type
of ideas that can be expressed in this style.
THE MATTER OF KU-MATAGARI (SEGMENT-STRADDLING)
Besides the two linguistic considerations and the varying underlying
structures described above, there is yet another factor adding freedom
and flexibility
to contemporary Japanese haiku. Although a majority of contemporary
Japanese haiku are still written in the classic 5-7-5 form, a significant
number
of them make use of what is called ku-matagari (segment-straddling),
where a word straddles two segments. Many haiku that appear to be,
and can be
read aloud as 5-7-5 are actually 7-5-5, 8-4-5, 5-9-3, 5-8-4, etc.
This technique is more frequently used by the poets in the avant-garde
schools,
and only those schools seem to allow more than one straddling within
one haiku.**** Although the popular use of ku-matagari is a relatively recent phenomenon,
I have come across some examples in a comprehensive collection of Issa's
haiku. Here is one example:
dou owaretemo (7) hitozato-o (5) watari-dori (5) — Issa
hunted mercilessly
migrating birds still
fly over towns
In English haiku, it is simply not conceivable to break a line in the
middle of a word just to serve the form. The reason why ku-matagari is feasible in Japanese haiku is because 5-7-5 rhythm is rooted so
deeply
in the Japanese psyche that the readers are able to keep track of the
form despite the lack of a break where one is expected, as well as because
of the aforementioned fact that the Japanese haiku are written on a
single line with no spacing. If they were written on three lines as
English haiku
are, there would be an awkward situation of having to split a word across
two lines.
In short, writing within the rigid structure of Japanese haiku is made
possible by the remarkable malleability and redundancy of the Japanese
language which allows for a multitude of options in expressing a single
thought. In languages such as English and its relatives whose grammars
are heavily dependent on word order, haiku must and will take a much
different form from that in Japanese. By concerning ourselves too
much with the
outward form of haiku, we can lose sight of its essence.
FOOTNOTES
* owariyokereba (7)
subete yosh i (5): "All's well that ends well"
Which came first? The Japanese proverb or Shakespeare's? Who knows?
Most likely, they were
independently conceived, since the idea expresses a
universal human sentiment.
** hotaru-no hikari (7) mado-no yuki (5):
"the light of fireflies, snow by the window" [lyrics corresponding
to "should auld acquaintance be
forgot (8) and never brought to
mind (6)?" in
Auld Lang Syne] — two of the Japanese syllables
span two notes.
These are the first words of the lyrics sung to the tune of Auld Lang
Syne by Japanese school kids
at the time of graduation. The lyrics are
inspired by an old Chinese poem. Incidentally, we all grew
up thinking
this and many other Western tunes were written and composed by Japanese;
i.e.,
Home Sweet Home, Glory Glory Hallelujah, Oh
My Darling Clementine,
I've Been Working On The
Railroad; the list goes on. The Japanese lyrics
tend to be totally different in content from that of the
original. This
is because the lyrics have been entirely rewritten since literal
or even figurative
Japanese translations simply cannot be fitted into
the tune.
The Japanese lyrics are well integrated
into the tunes, and are sung
with one or more syllable per note.
*** kaku-joshi (case particles)
-wa, -ga, -mo, (-no): subjective case; -wa and -ga are often abbreviated
-o, -ni, -e, -to, -kara: objective case; -o is often abbreviated
-no : possessive case
Example: kare
kare-wa: he
kare-ga: he
kare-mo: he too
kare-no: he (in archaic grammar)
kare-o: him
kare-ni: him; to him; by him
kare-kara: from him; by him
kare-e: to him
kare-to: with him
kare-no: his
**** Ku-matagari is used more extensively in
contemporary Japanese tanka.
Reprinted
from Aha!Poetry with permission of the editor,
Jane Reichhold:
http://www.ahapoetry.com/keirule.htm
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