The beauty of poetry enchants almost all people. No wonder they say that music can tame even the most ferocious beast. So the beauty of creativity sinks deep into the soul. How do poems differ? Why are Japanese hokku trishiches so attractive? And how to learn to perceive their deep meaning?
The beauty of Japanese poetry
The light of the moon and the delicate tenderness of the morning snow inspire Japanese poets to create three poems of unusual brightness and depth. Japanese hoku is a poem characterized by lyrical exposition. In addition, it can be incomplete and leave room for imagination and thoughtful reflection. Hokku (or haiku) verses do not tolerate haste or harshness. The philosophy of these soul creations is aimed directly at the hearts of the listeners and reflects the secret thoughts and secrets of the writer. The common people are very fond of creating these short poetic formulas, where there are no unnecessary words, and the syllable harmoniously passes from the folk to the literary, continuing to develop and generate new poetic forms.
The emergence of a national poetic form
The original poetic forms, so famous in Japan, are the five-hundredths and three-hundredths (tanka and hoku). Tanka is literally interpreted as a short song. Initially, the so-called folk songs that appeared at the dawn of Japanese history. In
Japanese literature, the tank was supplanted by the Nauthout, which were distinguished by excessive length. In folklore preserved epic and lyric songs of varying lengths. Many years later, Japanese hoku separated from tanks during the heyday of urban culture. Hokku contains all the wealth of
poetic images. In the history of Japanese poetry there have been periods of both prosperity and decline. There were times when Japanese hockey could disappear altogether. But over a long period of time, it became apparent that short and capacious poetic forms are a necessity and an urgent need for poetry. Such forms of poetry can be written quickly, under a storm of emotions. You can put your ardent thought into metaphors or aphorisms, making it memorable, reflecting with it praise or reproach.
Characteristics of Japanese Poetry
Japanese hokku poetry is distinguished by its desire for conciseness, compactness of forms, and love for minimalism, which is inherent in Japanese national art, which is universal and can create minimalistic and monumental images with equal virtuosity. Why is Japanese hockey so popular and attractive? First of all, it is a concise thought, reflected in the thoughts of ordinary citizens, wary of the traditions of classical poetry. Japanese hoku becomes the bearer of a capacious idea and most of all responds to the needs of growing generations. The beauty of Japanese poetry - in the image of those objects that are close to every person. It shows the life of nature and man in harmonious unity against the backdrop of changing seasons. Japanese poetry is syllabic, with rhythm based on the alternation of syllables. Hokka rhyme is unimportant, but the sound and rhythmic organization of the three-stony is primary.
The size of poems
Only the unenlightened thinks that this original verse has no parameters and limitations. Japanese Hokku has a steady meter with a certain number of syllables. Each verse has its own number: in the first - five, in the second - seven, and in the third - only seventeen syllables. But this does not limit poetic freedom. A true creator will never reckon with a meter in achieving poetic expressiveness.
Even a European sonnet makes monumental hoku small. The art of writing Japanese hoku lies precisely in the ability to express thoughts in a concise manner. In this respect, hokku resembles folk proverbs. The main differences between such proverbs from hokku lie in genre characters. Japanese hokku is not a cautionary adage, not apt acuity, but a poetic picture, framed in a few strokes. The task of the poet is in lyrical excitement, flight of imagination and detail of the picture. Hokku has Japanese examples even in the works of Chekhov. In his letters, he describes the beauty of moonlit nights, stars and black shadows.
Essential elements of Japanese poets
The way to create the Japanese trisheches requires the maximum activity of the writer, full immersion in creativity. Hokku collection is impossible to simply run through the eyes, without focusing attention. Each poem requires thoughtful reading and philosophical reflection. A passive reader will not be able to feel the impulse inherent in the content of creation. Only through the joint work of the thoughts of the reader and the creator is true art born, just as a wave of a bow and a trembling string give birth to music. The miniature size of hoku does not facilitate the task of the creator at all, because this means that you need to contain the immense in a small number of words, and there is simply no time to expose your thoughts. In order not to express the meaning hastily, in every phenomenon the writer seeks a climax.
Japanese Hoku Heroes
Many poets express their thoughts and emotions in hoku by transferring the main role to a specific object. Some poets reflect a popular worldview with a loving depiction of small forms and the affirmation of their right to life. Poets intercede in their creations for insects, amphibians, ordinary peasants and masters. Therefore, the Japanese three-part hokku examples have a social sound. The emphasis on small forms allows you to draw a large-scale picture.
The beauty of nature in poetry
Japanese hoku about nature is akin to painting, as it often becomes a transmission of the plot of paintings and a source of inspiration for artists. Sometimes hoku is a special component of the picture, which is served as a calligraphic inscription under it. A striking example of such work is considered to be the three-poem by Buson:
"The flowers are colza around. In the west, the sun goes out. The moon in the east rises."
The broad fields covered with yellow colza are described, which seem especially bright in the rays of sunset. A fiery solar ball contrasts spectacularly with the pallor of the rising moon. In hockey, there are no details demonstrating the effect of lighting and the palette of colors, but a new look at the picture is offered. The group of basic elements and details of the picture depends on the poet. The laconic manner of the image is related to Japanese hoku with color engraving ukiyo-e:
It rains spring!
Talking along the way
Umbrella and mino.
This Buscon hokku is a genre scene in the spirit of the ukiyo-e engraving. Its meaning is in the conversation of two passers-by in the spring rain. One of them is covered by an umbrella, and the second is dressed in a straw cloak - mino. The peculiarity of this hokku is the fresh breath of spring and subtle humor, close to the grotesque.
Images in poems by Japanese poets
The poet, who creates Japanese hoku, often prefers not visual, but sound images. Each sound is filled with special meaning, feeling and mood. The poem may reflect the howl of the wind, the chirp of cicadas, the cries of a pheasant, the singing of a nightingale and a lark, the voice of a cuckoo. This is how the hokku that describes the whole orchestra that sounds in the forest is remembered.
The Lark is singing.
Sonorous blow in the thicket
The pheasant echoes him.
(Basho)
Before the readers there is no three-dimensional panorama of associations and images, but the thought wakes up with certain directions. Poems resemble a monochrome ink drawing, without unnecessary details. Only a few skillfully selected elements help to create a brilliant picture of late autumn in their conciseness. Feelings of calm are felt and the sad stillness of nature. The light contour of the image nevertheless has a high capacity and fascinates with its depth. And even if only nature is described in the poem, then the poetβs state of mind, his painful loneliness, are felt.
Reader's Flight of Imagination
Hokku's appeal lies in the feedback. Only this poetic form allows you to have equal opportunities with the writers. The reader becomes a co-author. And it can be guided by its imagination in the outline of the image. Together with the poet, the reader experiences sadness, shares longing and plunges into the depths of personal experiences. Over the many centuries of existence, ancient hokku have not become less deep. Japanese hokku most likely does not show, but hints and prompts. The poet Issa expressed his longing for the deceased child in hokku:
Our life is a dewdrop.
Let only a drop of dew
Our life - and yet ...
At the same time, dew is a metaphor for the mortality of life. Buddhism teaches the brevity and ephemerality of human life and its low value. But still, the father cannot reconcile himself to the loss of a loved one and cannot relate to life as a philosopher. His silence at the end of the stanza speaks more words.
Hoku Underestimation
A mandatory element of Japanese hoku is the lack of understanding and the ability to independently continue the line of the creator. Most often, the verse contains two meaningful words, and the rest is formalities and exclamations. All unnecessary details are discarded, leaving bare facts unvarnished. Poetic means are selected very sparingly, since if possible metaphors and epithets are not used. It also happens that Japanese hokku verses are a detailed metaphor, but the direct meaning lies in the subtext.
From the core of the peony
A bee crawls out slowly ...
Oh, with what reluctance!
Basho wrote this poem at the time of parting with the house of his friend and clearly conveyed all the emotions.
Japanese hoku position was and remains an innovative art that belongs to ordinary people: merchants, artisans, peasants and even the poor. Sincere feelings and natural emotions inherent in each person, bring together representatives of various classes.