Haiku

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.2.2: Japanese Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Mats Arne Karlsson (University of Sydney), Roy Anthony Starrs (University of Otago)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1500

Places

Japan (Location)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

A Japanese verse-form dating from the sixteenth century which traditionally comprises lines of five, seven and five syllables. The name comes from two Japanese words meaning “sportive” or “pleasantry”, and the form evolved from the hokku which stood at the beginning of longer poems and set their tone, eventually becoming an independent form in its own right. Its early masters were Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), whose work is often found in English translations, Yosa Buson (1716-84) and Issa Kobayashi (1762-1826).

Here a famous example by Basho:

No one travels
Along this road but I
This autumn evening.

Haiku use extreme economy to convey emotions such as longing …

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351 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Haiku". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2001; last revised 30 August 2005. [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=494, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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Haiku

Dates

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Genres and Modes

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