Short poem

（WHAT IS A HAIKU?）
by Chiau-Shin Ngo, M.D., Ph.D., English edited by Leon Liu_Xiun
（Translated from my old works written in the Japanese language of the freestyle poem
that posted in 2015 and revised in 2019.）

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With no knowledge about the haiku
One who has tried to write the haiku

Ten years have already passed
at a run

At age 89
Aware that
the latter part of remaining life
is not so much

What is a haiku?
Having no more time
To slowly probe of it

Only become to know that
If you’d write by tracing to the origin
A haiku shall always derive from
a momentary impression

Extra words
shall be abandoned
Composing
the shortest
That’s it

<Kacyouhuuei > (花鳥諷詠=Catching of nature's beauties in a haiku)
<Kyakukansyasei> (客観写生＝Objective sketch)
but one of them
Not all

Moreover
There are plenty
of them to apply

For instance
Every daily life you encounter
of anything in life
That simply touched you

Easily
you can compose
Anyone can

No matter whether
objective or subjective
Don’t care

Lyric or description of the scenery
The logic or ethic
A joke or cynical remark
The great nature
The humane and the way of the world.
Worldly wisdom
Change of the four seasons
Slang or common saying
Specific for Japanese characteristics
Western worship
All are acceptable

A suddenly emerged
touching
is the key point

The inspiration
In a moment of carelessness
passing by
Do not miss it
with an immediate note

Written in Japanese
Don't have to rhyme
Just with the rhythm
at 575

In Chinese haiku
at the rhythm of 343
With 10 characters enough

The polysyllable
The monosyllable
Makes the difference

The so-called <Kan Pai> (漢俳) or
<The two-line Chinese haiku>
All just with one Chinese character of <Hai>(俳)
Are of counterfeit

At most
A kind of new short poem
Not a haiku

Similar to the Tanka-class
Having the amount of information
Equivalent to a Japanese Tanka

English, German

French
Any languages of the world
Might be used
to compose the haiku

All in three lines
Can you compose
in the shortest mode
The momentary feelings for everything
It's fine

Abandon all the extra words
As long as there’s no <Kikkutsugouga> (詰屈聱牙＝Difficult to pronounce or comprehend and hard to read)
Neither <Gadatensoku> (画蛇添足＝To painting a snake with feet)
Nor <Kinjotenka> (錦上添花= To give an added grace to what is already perfect)
Whatever
It’s okayed

Aside from Japanese and Chinese
As long as
the languages’ main vocabulary (verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs)
not exceed seven
It's fine

Ah, I coughed
Ah, I cried
Ah, I laughed
very happy
Fairy pleasing
Rather sad,
Joy, Anger, Grief, and Pleasure
Happened every day to everyone

So just compose as it is

In a direct narration
Or figurative speaking
the simile or the metaphor
No matter how
Just to compose
it short
In the shortest verses
That is a haiku

A lot of people
composing a haiku, just
for interest
for vanity

Sending boredom
by playing words and phrases
It does not matter
Don’t mind
Much better than
Playing Pachinko and gambling

Because
The number of vocabulary
you learned
will be eventually increased too

<To accomplish at one go> (一物仕立て)and
<The combination of two impacts>　(取り合わせ＝二物衝撃)
are two basic structures of a haiku’s composition
Don't care much about it

It's fine

So long as
To compose
in three stages 575
for the rhythm
And a rhythm
Makes the verse

In Chinese
575
will become
343

575 contains 17 sounds/ons
whilst 343 is 10 sounds/ons
both however
having the same volume of information

That is

The volume of information in Chinese haiku
should be equal to
the haiku written in Japanese

Namely
The Japanese haiku has 17 sounds/ons
The Chinese haiku has 10 letters with 10 sounds/ons

Why?
<I>, in Chinese is one character with one sound
whereas In Japanese
has two sounds/ons a word

Polysyllable
Monosyllable
Caused the difference

Those thoughtful persons who think life
so deeply and sincerely
Why don’t try to walk along
<The Path of philosophy> (哲學の道)
(Alongside Kyoto Sosui＜疎水＞, Japan, the path that the philosopher Kitaro Nishida
<西田幾多郎＞had walked through)

The haikus of
Human quest group
Kusadao Nakamura, Syuson Kato, Bon Shinohara, and Hakyo Ishida
(中村草田男、加藤楸邨、篠原梵、石田波郷)
are difficult to understand
There are however many readers
who appreciate them

The <Kigo=season word> and
The <Kacyouhuuei>
are of Japanese oriented
Japanese thinking
Japanese habits
Foreigners
are not understandable

Kyoshi(虚子) said
For Japanese
For the Japanese public
Those haikus containing or related to these two categories
are the easiest to compose
That's it

Hekigodou (碧梧桐)said
Looking at the same moon
For Japanese
there is a touching feeling, but
For Germans
do not feel anything

Kyoshi (虚子) said
The Season words
No matter how you explain to them
French will
pay no attention to what you say

The <Kacyohuuei>
Though it’s very easy
for Japanese to compose
Tended to be
The populism
of the Haiku circle

It is one person's view
Nobody knows how it
becomes a tradition
Just the change of the times
The populism

Being touched by the moment
The haiku is
very vast
and has depth
Can also be composed with
a Zen thought
You can also compose it

Basyo (芭蕉)said that
<Huekiryuukou> (不易流行＝immutable and popular)
That is
Its basis had been remaining unchanged, but
in the trend of the times
it will be changing

So that’s it
That is just to compose
The change transition of the era
That's it
Rhythm 575(343)
That's it.
It’s good enough

The shortest
of the poetic style
in the world

One who thoughts he knows everything
Explaining three norms
yet without really knowing what the haikus’ about
shall only do harm to the Haiku
hurt the Japanese
and Japanese origin
Haiku

People in the world
All are composing
can-not-be-shortened anymore
Three-line poetry
With rhythm
575 (in Japanese)or 343 (in Chinese)
And the main vocabulary within seven words
in the Western languages
That ‘s what we called the Haiku

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#Kacyouhuuei(花鳥諷詠)：https://ja.wikipedia.org/…/%E8%8A%B1%E9%B3%A5%E8%AB%B7%E8%A…
＃Kyakukansyasei(客観写生)：https://ja.wikipedia.org/…/%E5%AE%A2%E8%A6%B3%E5%86%99%E7%9…
＃Kikkutsugouga (詰屈聱牙)：https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/…/%E8%A9%B0%E5%B1%88%E8%81%B1…/
＃Gadatensoku (画蛇添足)：https://yoji.jitenon.jp/yojii/4018.html
＃Kinjotenka (錦上添花)：https://yoji.jitenon.jp/yojii/4414.html
＃Huekiryuukou（不易流行）：https://yoji.jitenon.jp/yojif/2739.html