In my post about Alexander Pope earlier today (check it out and comment if you haven’t already), I wrote about how poetic form and content work together to convey ideas in a way that can be (as Pope puts it) more forceful and concise than prose. For Thursday’s post, you’ll continue thinking about how poetic form works. Even if you don’t know a lot about poetry, you’ve probably come across one of the most highly formal (that is, most rule-bound) poem types: the haiku, popularized in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Japan (and thus contemporary with Pope’s poetry).
(A side note: If you want to see just how popular the haiku form still is, a great place to look is twitter. Because a tweet is also formally constrained—to 140 characters—many poets, both professional and amateur, have used it to experiment with and publish haiku. Check out New York Haiku, @575ny; @doyouhaiku; and @accidental575—which finds existing tweets that already fit haiku form.)
For this assignment, you’ll first read the selection of haiku poets Prof. McGlynn passed out in class (also under the readings tab). Second, to complement those readings, watch this short video on the Zen philosophy of Basho. (It will, among other benefits, give you access to some beautiful contemporary images—of much better quality than your Xeroxed handout.)
Then in a blog post of your own, write a short prose essay (or haibun) of around 500 words about how you attempt to achieve something like the Zen principles of unity and balance in your own life. Try to be evocative and precise. Broad generalizations just won’t do. Use details and images from your life, and try to take the short essays by these poets as models. You may quote from them to draw connections or pose contrasts; if you do so, be sure to use quotation marks and cite properly.
You must also include in your response three haiku that capture some aspect of your daily life. Incorporate them, as do Basho and his contemporaries, into your short essay, setting them apart so that your readers can see the lines clearly. This formatting also gives your reader the chance to pause and reflect on the scene you’re conjuring. These short poems should follow haiku form closely, not only by containing the correct number of syllables (in the 5-7-5 pattern) but also by featuring strong images, juxtaposition (or the placing of images side-by-side for contrast), and playfulness or surprise. Of course, the content of your haiku can be whatever you think appropriate; it might not be too nature-filled if your daily experience is typically urban. But remember that haiku were, at the height of their popularity, synonymous with the experience of modern daily life. (As the introduction to this section puts it, “Haikai exponentially expanded the topics on which one could write” [322].) So feel free to experiment within these formal constraints. You may not tend to think of yourself as a poet, but put some thought into these, and use the exercise to reflect on the small but meaningful moments of your everyday experience.
A couple of final things to think about: please give your post a welcoming title (not just “blog post” but something that might actually tempt a reader), and make sure to proofread carefully before posting.
Don’t forget that we will not have class on Monday, as the college will be closed for Lincoln’s birthday. We will, however, meet in class next Wednesday (the whole college follows a Monday schedule) to discuss the readings about the French Revolution and England’s response. If you are truly unable to attend class on Wednesday because of an unavoidable conflict, send me an email. And, as always, let me know if you have any questions.
I’ll be waiting here,
Right next to my computer
For all your emails.