Shadows and
Reflections of the Haiku Moment
Florence Vilen
Stockholm, Sweden
Haiku convey the essence of a
moment, one of special intensity. Through the evocation of a specific detail,
usually one from everyday life, thought and emotion may proceed further to the
nature of perceived reality. A central concept in Western discussions of this
seemingly simple, yet really deep-sounding experience is the term, "haiku
moment," which has even been used for an important anthology.
In order to achieve so much within
this narrow framework, a set of associations is provided through recurring
themes. A reader steeped in modern Western appreciation of originality and
individualism may need to adapt to the opposite ideal in haiku, where the
established season words, kigo, are essential. What a Westerner might
dismiss as "cliché" may be the very definition of Japanese haiku.
In the West, some other themes
have been used so often that they have sometimes been called clichés. These
are, however, often subjects of general fascination, such as "reflection
and shadow." There is really nothing strange in this popularity, even
though the subjects, themselves, may call up the strangeness of existence. As
soon as the eye begins to train itself to observe the world, it will be
immediately be struck by these phenomena.
There is something deeply
satisfying about noticing shadows, of seeing them as a part of, yet free from,
and dependent upon the body from which they are cast. As for reflections, there
is a universal feeling of the inherent power and otherness of a reflected image.
Fairy and fantasy tales abound in magical mirrors. How undeniably peculiar, once
you think of it, that people and landscapes are seen upside-down in water!
To those so inclined, a shadow or
a reflection may also be seen as symbolic of the act of writing (or reading)
itself; the text shows us a reality and is, hopefully, true to its object yet it
is imbued with an evocative quality of its own. A reflected image is more than
just a copy of its object. Our perceptions will be influenced by the subtle
characteristics of the mirror, whether man-made glass or natural water. So will
our reading be directed by the medium of words, skilfully crafted to appear
perfectly natural.
To offer a concrete example, this
haiku by Helen J. Sherry:
.....ebb
tide…
.........the heron’s reflection
...............becomes its shadow
Here we have both subjects: the
shadow and the mirror image – presented very well, indeed. As the water
recedes from the shore, the bird is outlined, not seen (upside-down) any more.
Let us look at a choice of these
visual reflections. Not a few writers have a touch of humour in their ways of
seeing the world. One example is this haiku by Tal Streeter:
.....Part
of a dog
.....walking by upside down
.....in the roadside puddle
We may smile at the scene – and
at ourselves for not having thought of it ourselves. It is simple and haphazard,
not even a complete reflection. Only part of the dog is mirrored. A puddle is
muddy, with none of the serenity of a body of clear water or even the elegance
of a pond. It just happens to be there as the dog, incidentally, passes by –
and the poet, coincidentally, perceives what can be seen. It is truth to the
moment, truth to the observation – and joy in this ability, this state of
mind.
The eye, or perception of, the
real thing is here. Many haiku themed on reflections are combined with the joy
of a "twist" in the language. As such, the reader must find out what
is happening. Thus, a writer from the French-speaking part of Belgium may
describe an aquatic scene mixed up with the sky. The explanation is not
difficult – but we have to find out for ourselves. Bill Bilquin, the author of
this haiku, will not tell us. What does he say?:
.....de
son nénuphar
.....la grenouille saute gaiement
.....dans un gros nuage
..........from
his water lily
............the frog jumps merrily
............into a fat cloud
The French name for the flower
does not mention water, and so the mental jump from plant to sky is greater in
the original. While most readers of English automatically interpret the word
lily as meaning water lily when the word water is mentioned in the same haiku --
not me.
So you may say, "Nice...but
is it deep?" The image is the answer. All within one verse, there are three
kinds of depth: real water; the plant on the surface; the sky on high. Depth
lies in the eye of the beholder. We read poetry differently, according to our
tastes, experiences and personalities. Some see the surface, others go to the
bottom of the lake. The best approach for a reader will be the one which gives
the greatest individual satisfaction – within a reasonable frame of reference.
What we are given here is a
simultaneous view of height, surface and depth -- of what could be touched and
felt -- and what is seen only as reflection. All this in three brief lines.
Jeanette Stace emphasizes height,
depth and the effect of movement in water. She also uses indentation to
underline small pauses in the reading which make every word of central
importance:
.......in
the lake
....tops of the mountains
.........quivering
Marlene J. Egger introduces a fish
in a similar setting where the last line gives the reader a jolt of surprise; at
first glance it would not be possible to break through hard rock and then, of
course, we see how it is done:
..........calm
water
..........a trout leaps
..........through the mountain
In another vein, we have the
joyous approach of Carl Patrick built on colour: the shining yellow of the
flower in which the blue from above is seen (probably in a water drop although
none is mentioned):
...........heaped
........in the buttercup
...........blue sky
And what of shadows? Do they not
depend on the light? One of them may break out of a mass of shadows, or the
darkening of bright light in the same way one individual may break out of a mass
of people. Thus, Debra Woolard Bender leaves a poetical lot of things unsaid:
.....awakening
..........out of the shadow
...............my shadow
In one way, this poem could be
read as an affirmation of the concept of the individual within our political and
psychological scale of values. There is an affinity between all existing things,
human or animal, living or inanimate. This attitude is prevalent in Buddhist
sayings about the conditions of the world, and the wheel of life. This attitude
is hinted at even more discreetly when Gerald LeBel chooses to mention just the
two shadows:
..........cold
dawn –
..........the shadow of a broom being swept
..........by the shadow of a man
Christopher Herold, an experienced
haiku poet (and editor) sees:
...............bird
shadow
...............from tree shadow
...............to fence shadow
You might say that haiku itself is
a reflection or a shadow of the world around us, a detail made vivid and
meaningful through the attention of the writer -- and, hopefully, then that of
the reader. Small wonder that these themes exert such a fascination!
Notes
Helen J. Sherry, quoted from the
anthology The
Haiku Moment, edited by Bruce Ross (1993). Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle Company,
Inc. p 225
Tal Streeter, Herold
G. Henderson Memorial Award, 1979
Bill Bilquin, quoted from Duhaime’s Haïku
sans frontières,une anthologie mondiale
Jeanette Stace, quoted from Haïku
sans frontières,une anthologie mondiale
Marlene J. Egger, presence 13, January 2001
Carl Patrick , quoted from The
Haiku Anthology; Haiku and Senryu in English, edited by Cor van den Heuvel,
W.W.Norton & Co., 3rd ed. p 141
Debra Woolard Bender, Mainichi
Daily News, Haiku in English, November 2000
Gerald LeBel, Mainichi
Daily News, Haiku in English, March 2001
Christopher Herold, quoted from Duhaime, Haïku
sans frontières,une anthologie mondiale
