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Haiku by Matsuo Bashō
"Quietly, quietly, / yellow mountain roses fall – / sound of the rapids."
Besides my love for English and writing, Fall is one of my favorite seasons. Thus, joining the School of English Studies’ 1st Annual Harvest Haikus and Party: poetry combined with delicious Hot Chocolate, festive music, and fantastic participators, is an excellent academic Fall treat. A few participants also dressed in costumes.
The Harvest Haikus ran from October 20th through October 31st. They were topped off with a tasty Harvest Party, which included a yummy Hot Chocolate Bar with all the fixings on October 31st, located outside the School of English Studies Office, CAS 301. 🍂
The Haikus and the delicious hot chocolate bar were in full effect. Mmm. Mmm. Good!
Poets.org states that a traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression. But in case you are still fuzzy about what Haiku is or is not, Poets.org further states Haiku is short-form poetry initially from Japan. Haiku began in thirteenth-century Japan as the opening phrase of regna, an oral poem generally a hundred stanzas long and composed syllabically. The much shorter haiku broke away from regna in the sixteenth century and was mastered a century later by Matsuo Basho, who wrote this classic haiku:
A frog jumps in—
the sound of water.
As the form has evolved, many common traits—including its famous syllabic pattern—have been routinely broken. However, the philosophy of haiku has been preserved: the focus on a brief moment in time; the use of provocative, colorful images; the ability to be read in one breath; and a sense of sudden enlightenment.
This philosophy influenced the American poet Ezra Pound, who noted the power of haiku’s brevity and juxtaposed images. He wrote, “The image itself is speech. The image is the word beyond formulated language.” The influence of haiku on Pound is most evident in his poem “In a Station of the Metro,” which began as a thirty-line poem but was eventually pared down to two:
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Hmm… I wonder if Derrell is composing a winning Haiku?
Check out a few of our honorable mentions of Haikus from the Harvest Party and be inspired to write your Haikus, as I, too, learned at Kean University in my Writing Poetry course with Dr. Abriana Jetté.
Honorable Mention Haikus:
I screamed, Billy, please stop!
What’s the matter, Cindy?
have you seen a ghost?
– Same
I really love pie
pumpkin is the best to me
and Apple, as well
– Matt Girello
I hop out of bed,
turn my swag on, take a look
in the mirror, gang
– Christopher Gutierrez
Thank you to you who attended our 1st Annual Harvest Haikus and Party and stopped by our table at the Kean University Open House Sunday, November 6, 2022, at 8:00 AM. We look forward to seeing you with more poetry and hot chocolate to enjoy next year. I undoubtedly enjoyed my cup of steamy hot chocolate with marshmallows, chocolate morals, whip cream, and cinnamon. 🍂
Kean University School of English Studies Department is also calling all Alumni, Faculty, Adjunct, and Students; please remember to take a moment to complete the forms as requested for publication:
Alumni Stories Submissions Form, Adjunct Professional Updates Submission Form, Faculty Professional Updates Submission Form, or Student Achievements and Accomplishments Submission Form.
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