History Of Haiku :: essays research papers fc

In Japan, short poems have a dour history. The earliest Japanese poetry such as that of the Manyoshu, create verbally in 759 A.D., includes stirring narrative, dramatic and short lyrical poems which scholars believe were originally indite as part of the pre-Buddhist or other(a) Shinto ceremonial rituals (Haiku). This anthology includes unidentified songs and prayers designed to celebrate and pacify the gods, prayers for safe voyages, socio-economic classal eulogies on the finis of an Emperor or Empress and appealing, marriage, planting and harvesting rituals. The 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable haiku has evolved and been reinvented many times over the centuries. One such form is the 31 syllable waka composed of five 5-7-5-7-7 syllable phrases. Developed as the early imperial court of the late eighth century consolidated cultural, fond and political forms, the waka took its come as one of the important regularized poetic forms of the period. Within imperial circles, sma ll officials and scribes gained recognition as poem-providers and word specialists due to their ability to compose waka (Haiku). Nevertheless, early Japanese poetry went beyond official usage. In the 14th century, an expert game developed where one person would write the first half of a waka-like poem, and another would complete it, adding the two 7-syllable stanzas.As many as four-spot people took part in composing such poetry in what developed as a serious poetic form, with many composite rules to ensure that the elegant court-poetry diction and aesthetic ideals were maintained. However, in large social gatherings where Japanese rice wine, or sake, was often served, participants became inebriated and started writing haikai, preposterous linked verse, which ignored many of the rules and allowed any subject matter at all, from the truly crude and erotic to pure slapstick, daffy comedy. According to Dr. Kerkham, it was this lower-level poetic form which Matsunaga Teitoku, haikai master, tried to clean up and popularize and teach to his student Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). Bashos haiku, written while travelling around Japan, made him one of Japans most noteworthy poets.