After Demon Purification :: Haiku of Japan #87
鬼の出た跡はき出してあぐら哉
oni no deta ato hakidashite agura kana
after the demons leave
I sweep up
and sit, relaxed
by Issa
(Tr. David LaSpina)
(Young Man Throwing Beans at Setsubun by Suzuki Harunobu)
Another haiku for Setsubun from Issa. If you forgot what Setsubun was, look here. Briefly, it is a spring festival that features a fun event where kids throw soy beans at someone (usually dad) dressed as a demon, chanting "Get out demon, get in good luck!" These days no one actually believes they are chasing away demons. It remains just a fun event, mostly for kids.
Here Issa is cleaning up and relaxing after the event is over. There is a sense of satisfaction at how simple and enjoyable life can be. The events of Issa's own life show how fragile that simple life can be: the very next year his son and his wife would both die. With that in mind, this hokku takes on a bittersweet tone. How quickly it all can change.
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Recent Haiku
- 81 — Winter Game
- 82 — Hated Crow
- 83 — Passing Through
- 84 — Dried Salmon
- 85 — Little Demon Hunters
- 86 — Still Alive
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It is true. How quickly it can change.
I like this one. From frenzy to calm, so deftly.
The purging of dust devils or perhaps some messy children. Thanks for sharing this 'classical' piece:) Do you write haiku yourself?
I do—daily—but I don't share them on here often, perhaps only about once a week or so.
I search for the haiku every day on here and of course write them. I have have joined the 30 day challenge. When you have the time, I invite you pop in and take a look. They are not completely traditional ... I like word play ... but they always have at least one pivot line.
I used to do that, when I had more time. There are a lot of good haiku on here (and a lot of bad ones too). If you like the traditional haiku, I post a translated one almost everyday. Also, if you like haiku, we do a renga on the writers block. Please join if you want to have fun with us. I don't have a link to the writers block handy, but you can find one at the end of my renga post here. I'd argue that there there is no syllable, kigo, or kireji requirement in English haiku (as I have in many posts on here), and the old Japanese haiku are nothing but wordplay, so you are good in yours. I'll check your account out after I take my kids to school this morning.
I agree haiku need not be 5/7/5... the only stipulations I have is that it be brief and about nature and about three lines/images/thoughts and I do like a pivot. I do a little internal cringe when there isn't one and then try to get over myself. I write senryu too ... but I am learning that haiku, hokku and senryu are all called haiku on this platform. Best to just go with it. Please keep posting more classic haiku:) I will look into the renga:) Cheers:)
I am half and half. I personally prefer haiku about nature. As for a pivot, or kireji... it depends on the haiku. If it calls for it I like it. Even Basho sometimes didn't include one, after all. I like the more profound haiku of some of the old masters which would refer to even older chinese poets, religious texts, or Buddhist ideals. Two of my favorites are this and this which I think show off the more profound.
But even since I started translating haiku, I have realized that my haiku preference has been shaped by what we think of haiku in English, which is mainly Blyth cherry-picking all zen-esque haiku to introduce to us. I have since been persuaded by many Japanese haijin that haiku need not have kigo or kireji, nor be about nature. I guess in Japan the free-verse school of haiku has been gaining more and more popularity since the giant Kyoshi died and is now the more popular form, at least that is my impression. That could also be fad, as currently I think Santoka is one of the most popular haiku poets in Japan, and all of his are free-verse, most without kigo or kireji.
I have been slowly introducing some terms and history in my posts, including hokku and senryu. But again those are contentious terms even in Japan and amongst Japanese haiku poets. Do we call all pre-Shiki short poems hokku or haiku? Shiki called them haiku and many who follow him do the same. Yet many of the more traditional scholars refuse to call them anything but hokku. So which is right? Senryu too... many free-verse haijin in Japan say all senryu are in fact haiku. I think the senryu divide is again something where Blyth passed off his opinion as fact. But yet many in Japan do make a strong distinction as Blyth did.
haha you see my problem? I see both sides on all these issues and when I write about them I tend to give both sides, which complicated the writing. Ho hum—so it goes. More articles to post on here ;)
I just love them ... the title is only there to prepare the reader for what they will find. I am stickler for the pivot however ... at least in my own haiku/senryu/tanka ... I believe in the original purpose ... the shifting/expansion of awareness. The ability to look at something beyond the concrete. They keep the mind agile. I am amazed however at the way unseen pivots ... at least by me ... can sneak in. Haiku are magical that way.
Here is today's attempt ... it is definitely written with a nod to the language it is conceived in and reads concrete as opposed to abstract/pictorial but I hope the pivot points are strong ... the way I see it there are two really. Let me know what you think ... don't be shy. You have a lot of intellectual knowledge. I like that.https://steemit.com/thirtdayhaikuchallenge/@prydefoltz/spring-s-jolly-sovereign-30-day-haiku-and-color-challenge
When the demons come
we wait for them
to leave
okay not a haiku, but just wanted to say you have the coolest steemit blog I've seen so far .. I have to check out this "alliance" group ...
I like that. The thing about English haiku is the only requirement in my opinion is for them to be short. You meet that criterion, so if you say it's a haiku, it's a haiku.
Thanks for the kind words :)
I love the profound simplicity of this. Good to meet you. UV and resteemed. Peace
Thanks for the resteem. Good to meet you too.