Unrhymed Japanese poetic form. It consists of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively. The form expresses much and suggests more in the fewest possible words. It gained distinction in the 17th century, when Bashō elevated it to a highly refined art. Haiku remains Japan's most popular poetic form and is widely imitated in English and other languages.

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, is the opening stanza of the Japanese orthodox collaborative linked poem renga, or of its later derivative renku (haikai no renga). From the time of Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), the hokku began to appear as an independent poem, and was also incorporated in haibun (in combination with prose), and haiga (in combination with painting). In the late 19th century, Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), renamed the standalone hokku to haiku, and the latter term is now generally applied retrospectively to all hokku appearing independently of renku or renga, irrespective of when they were written, although this approach has been challenged. The term 'hokku' continues to be used in its original sense, as the opening verse of a linked poem.

Content

Within the traditions of renga and renku, the hokku, as opening verse of the poem, has always held a special position. It was traditional for the most honoured guest at the poetry-writing session to be invited to compose it, and he would be expected to offer praise to his host and/or deprecate himself (often symbolically), while superficially referring to current surroundings and season. (The following verse fell to the host, who would respond with a compliment to the guest, again usually symbolically).

Form

Typically, a hokku is 17 Japanese syllables (onji - a phonetic unit identical to a mora) in length, composed of three metrical units of 5, 7 and 5 syllables respectively. Alone among the verses of a poem, the hokku includes a kireji or 'cutting-word' which appears at the end of one of its three metrical units. A Japanese hokku is traditionally written in a single vertical line.

English-language hokku

Paralleling the development of haiku in English, poets writing renku in western languages nowadays seldom adhere to a 5-7-5 syllable format for the hokku, or other chōku ('long verses'), of their poem. The salutative requirement of the traditional hokku is often disregarded, but the hokku is still typically required to include a kigo (seasonal word or phrase), and to reflect the poet's current environment.

Example

Bashō composed the following hokku in 1689 during his journey through Oku (the Interior), while writing renku in the house of an official in Sukagawa:

ふうりうの初やおくの田植うた

fūryū no hajime ya oku no taueuta

beginnings of poetry—

the rice planting songs

of the Interior

(trans. Shirane)

Having heard the field workers singing as they planted rice in his host's fields, Bashō composed this hokku so that it complimented his host on the elegance of his home and region, by associating it with the historical "beginnings" (hajime) of poetic art, while suggesting his joy and gratitude at the opportunity to compose renku for the "first time" (hajime) in the Interior.

References

See also

• Renku
• Renga
• Haiku
• Haikai