LATE BLOOMING CHERRIES - HAIKU POETRY FROM INDIA

   

 

 Edited by: KYNPHAM sing Nongkynrih  &

                         Rimi Nath

Publisher: HarperCollins India

Genre: Poetry

Book Buy link : @Amazon

The most famous haiku is arguably “Old Pond / A Frog Jumps in / The Sound of water “by Matsuo Basho. This haiku, written in the 17th century, is a perfect example of the traditional Japanese form, capturing a simple moment in nature with vivid imagery and a sense of impermanence.

Haiku topics are traditionally about nature, the seasons, animals, and other natural occurrences. Haikus focus on singular, fleeting moments in time and on small details that are often overlooked. Some common themes seen in Haikus include lost moments, love, moral concepts, and contrasting elements.

Traditionally, haiku is about nature. One common theme explored by historical and modern haiku poets is seasonal changes. Often, a haiku focuses on a single moment in time and, in many cases, juxtaposes two images.

As the form has evolved, many of its regular 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.

The haiku is a Japanese poetic form that consists of three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. The haiku developed from the hokku, the opening three lines of a longer poem known as a Tanka.

The Tanka was a popular form of poetry in Japan for centuries and was used to express a wide range of emotions, from love and desire to grief and longing. The influence of Chinese poetry on Japanese culture also played a significant role in the development of Haiku.

Another important aspect of the 5-7-5 format is the idea that a good Haiku answers three questions: Where, When, and what.  The autumn dusk. In the first line, Basho tells you where the action of the poem is taking place, offering you a visual to immediately connect with.

Originally, the haiku was supposed to give a description of nature suggestive of one of the seasons, evoking an emotional response. The form gained distinction in the 17th century with the great master Basho. He enriched the haiku and made it an accepted medium of artistic expression.

Haiku is a form of poetry that focuses on a brief moment in time, and a sense of sudden illumination or enlightenment. A haiku is usually composed of seventeen syllables in three short lines. The first line often contains five syllables, the second line seven syllables, and the third line five syllables.

With an endless list of possibilities and properties of engaging poets and readers alike, Here comes a book of Haiku by Indian poets titled LATE BLOOMING CHERRIES Edited by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih and Rimi Nath.

It carries the works of nearly 60 eminent Haiku poets from India. Each piece is distinct and the culmination of them all in one book is a boon for poetry lovers and a rare privilege bestowed upon readers. Haiku is not new to India. Haiku poetry fascinated both Rabindranath Tagore and Subramanya Bharathi — revered poets from Bengal and Tamil Nadu — at the beginning of the last century.

Senryu is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 or fewer morae (or on) in total. However, senryu tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and senryu are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are more serious.

senryu, three-line unrhymed Japanese poetic form structurally similar to haiku but treating human nature, usually in a satiric or ironic vein. Whereas haiku focuses on nature, senryu is concerned with human nature and its foibles. Senryu also finds a place in this book along with Haiku.

 Haiku engages your mind, increases your attention to nature, and lifts your spirits. The rules are simple and can be relaxed if you choose. Traditionally, these short poems focus on nature, but themes and humor are fine too. Poets try to capture a moment in time with both richness and simplicity. 

Haiku has a calming effect that in an instant can take readers to a different place and time and in doing so, makes them feel the words of each poem as if they were there. Haiku is about feelings and the connection of words to people's life experiences. Reading this book will surely make you agree with this statement.

Some haiku can seem deceptively simple at first glance--too short, simple, and every day, some might argue, to be "great" poetry. But haiku's richness and the reward for haiku readers, lie in its brief and compressed suggestiveness, engaging the reader's participation in ways that longer poetry cannot do. 

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.

There are haikus for humor, to raise social awareness, to evoke emotions, or to reminisce on the past. The idea of compression, though, remains the same. Haikus are a microcosm of a larger idea or feeling. They are brief, poignant, and powerful.

A good haiku often captures or produces a moment of epiphany—a moment of realization, understanding, or suchness. One way haiku crystallizes epiphanies is by being immediate and accessible, avoiding artifice. The poem happens now, in the present tense, and focuses on the common and the simple.

Haiku is a poetry of seasons. Because haiku is short, people can remember them easily. For example, everybody, even foreigners who do not speak Japanese, can learn Basho's haiku by heart due to its conciseness. Its shortness enables many people to write and enjoy haiku.

Simplicity is undoubtedly a key feature of haiku, but to me, these poems have everything and nothing to do with simplicity. They depict beauty and art in the simplest of things, yet the language selected to express such imagery is so deliberate that it leaves no word vacant of complexity and meaning.

Do grab a copy of the book and immerse yourself in the views expressed by Haiku poets and definitely you will enjoy it to the core.

(This book review is a part of BlogChatter's Bookreview program)

( "This post is part of the Bookish League blog hop hosted by Bohemian Bibliophile"  Details here:://bohemianbibliophile.com/))