The Haiku Form

By: Joan Giroux

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Synopsis: This book, the first of its kind, examines English-language haiku in the light of the Japanese form. Author Joan Giroux explicates the meaning and history of the Japanese haiku, its cultural background, the creative process which gives it birth and the technical devices developed by Japanese poets over the centuries. Examples by classic and contemporary poets, including Basho and Buson, Shiki and Hatsutaro, are given in romanized Japanese and in English translation. Poems in English, from early efforts by Ezra Pound and Wallace Stevens to the work of contemporaries like James Hackett, are discussed and evaluated. Wherever possible, comparisons are made, contrasts indicated and suggestions given, with a rare sensitivity to the poetic possibilities of both languages and a keen appreciation of the unique qualities of both cultures.The author, after more than a decade of study, foresees the emergence of "a great haiku poet who will take the Japanese form and give it the truly English shape that is waiting for it." Before that can happen, she points out, poets must seek a thorough knowledge of the Japanese language, as well as Japanese culture and poetics. This book enables English-speaking poets and students of haiku to take the essential first steps to such knowledge.