NOTES ON JAPANESE POETRY AND CULTURE Taubman/CW



NOTES ON JAPANESE POETRY AND CULTURE Taubman/CW

Your name ______________________________________________________

As we discuss Japanese poetry and culture in class, please jot down the following in note form and hand it in at the end of the class period.

1. What is stressed in Japanese poetry?

2. How does Japanese poetry differ from American poetry?

3. List the “ingredients” of Japanese haikus.

4. List the seven forms of Japanese poetry.

A. B. C. D.

E. F. G.

5. Why might an honored guest be served tea from a crazed, old teacup?

6. Liken a cracked, crazed piece of porcelain to the Japanese reverence for their elders.

7. Explain which is more honored in Japan: a worn rug or a hand-woven new one.

8. Why is the United States considered a “throwaway society” – especially compared to the Japanese culture?

9. Describe three typical adorning artistic figures that often illustrate Japanese poetry and are often found in Japanese paintings.

10. Why do you think we are studying Japanese poetry in creative writing? On which skills are we focusing?

JAPANESE FORMS OF POETRY

Advanced Composition B/ Taubman Your Name ______________

Below are listed and described some types of Japanese poetry. After reviewing definitions and examples, please try to create at least one example of each form.

The first four are segments of the four Japanese classifications of beauty:

(1)HADE (Hah’ day) –superficial, on the surface; (2) IKI (Ee’ key) – second layer;

(3) JIMI (Jee’ mee) – third layer; and (4) SHIBUI (Shee boo’ ee) – deepest layer

A. HADE: signifying something that is colorful, flashy, or bright

The signs on 42nd Street

flash – Blazing bright brilliance

blue and green and red and yellow springs warm and vibrant

looking like fireworks dancing colors.

fighting hard living fire from the opal.

to explode. (Eden Miller)

Piccadilly Circus

lights all of the streets She spins like a whirling

of London, dervish, an

except those which man-made ecstatic blur of tie-dye

buildings conceal. (Jill Auckenthaler) and feverish grinning,

possessed by vibrations

B. IKI: portraying something smart, stylish, or chic of sound.

I looked in the window and saw (John Sauer)

a baby diamond lying on a piece

of old, soft, blue velvet.

Checking himself out in the mirror,

Above the soft green velvet he primps, buttoning every last

lay sixteen rainbow-colored balls useless ornamental button,

rolling, slamming into one another shoes polished to a painful glare.

all aiming for one of six holes. (John Sauer)

Rose petals blanket the ground,

Bright red sparkles

Which cleanse the earth

And sooth the sky. (Greg Strauss)

C. JIMI : portraying images that are traditional, old-fashioned, or seemingly dull and commonplace

The birds left the ground

and took their proper pattern The painting,

for flying south once again. The book,

The music,

Sunlight filters through the The all float immortally

splintered pane Through time and space.

Etching a spider’s web Their creators have long since passed

embroidered So they are left to await discovery.

In the newly fallen dew. (Rachel Walters) (Janna Berger)

D. SHIBUI: pertaining to the highest form of beauty. Subject may be dull but is described in the context of a rich background expressing joy or contrasting brightness.

Icy Gorgon (a Shibui)

The sky was pitch black, The blades of grass stood petrified,

But only until the lightning bolt held upright by the crystalline dew;

appeared and tore it apart. Gift of nature frozen into statues.

(Josef Keller)

The purple lay unnoticed

until its throat unfurled and turned a bright yellow.

His eyes, the purest essence of beauty,

are my window to a universe of wonder. (Berenice Juarez)

Flame (a Shibui) Outburst (a Shibui)

The candle stands alone The black, velvet sky

Its flames dance with the shadows held no light

All is dark except for until

A faint light white blazing stars

To give him a opened their sleepy eyes to

Glimmer of hope (Janine Sung) penetrate the night. (Christie Sloan)

II. The last three poetic forms, involving nature or human nature, stipulate specific numbers of syllables per line and lines per poem.

E. HAIKU: A seventeen-syllable, three non-rhyming line poem with the first and third lines consisting of five syllables and the second of seven. The haikus should relate to nature or the seasons or a scene reflecting nature. A haiku should capture a moment or a single image in nature.

In a spring garden Winter fell hard on

Where the day is two feet long, Unfamiliar ground leaving

A blossom crumbles. A blanket of snow.

(Scott Gregory)

A lone bead Winter’s quintessence

Settles on the spider’s web Snow far brighter than the sun

And waits patiently. Lies stranded on earth.

(Eden Miller) (Josh Walters)

F. SENRYU: Same characteristics as haiku except that the subject matter is unrestricted (usually concerning human nature instead)

Purpose (a Senryu) Imagination (a Senryu)

Hope brings them closer Imagination:

Love keeps them holding on, but My mind’s door to a world of

Words break them apart. Creativity

(Kelly Spindel) (Virginia Ortega)

Defiance (a Senryu) Cure (a Senryu)

A patch of green grass The touch of love is

Lies centered in the burnt field the best medicine against

Where all else has died. Apathy’s sorrow.

(Gloria Stillson) (Berenice Juarez)

G. TANKA: A five-line poem consisting of 31 syllables (5,7,5,7,7) and dealing with nature or a season of the year. The first three lines are called the hokku (huh’ koo) and the last two lines (which usually resolve or solidly close the image of the hokku) are called the ageku (uh ghee’ koo).

Double Delight (a Tanka) Claws and Fangs (a Tanka)

Its smooth, silky touch Twilight air hovers

Compliments its red petals Over endless roaring plains

And prickly green stem Two glowing eyes stare

As it fills me with content, At the helpless prey, watching…

Yet saddens me with sorrow. It waits to strike at once.

(Kelly Spindel) (Andrew Wagner)

Arizona Background (a Tanka) Nature Sounds (a Tanka)

A barren cliffside It’s not peaceful here

Leafless plants cling to the edge With the plummeting brown leaves

Tough roots for anchors Crashing on the ground

The wind howls through the canyon And the rushing waterfall

And whispers in the treetops. Spilling down the mountainside.

(Josh Walters) (Eden Miller)

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