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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.2020.21.1.1
О СТРУКТУРЕ И ПОЭТИКЕ ПЕРСИДСКОГО ХАЙКУ
Научная статья
Киселёв А.А. *
Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет гражданской авиации, Санкт-Петербург, Россия * Корреспондирующий автор (kiseliov2a[at]mail.ru)
Аннотация
Статья посвящена обсуждению особенностей персидского хайку, раскрыта тема происхождения данной поэтической формы, названы самые известные иранские авторы этого поэтического жанра, отмечено влияние японских переводов хайку на появление новых стилей. Также здесь обсуждаются свойства хайку, составленных не на японском языке. Введено понятие «хайкуланд», включая хайку на неяпонских языках, показано персидское хайку в виде свободного стиха, противоположного классической персидской поэзии. изучено отклонение слоговой структуры персидского хайку от японского хайку. Отсутствие рифмы распространенное по всему хайкуланду, также рассмотрено в данной работе. Присутствие одного или даже двух сезонных слов с именем «киго» в большинстве персидских хайку подтверждается некоторыми примерами. В статье упоминается концепция китайского происхождения шасей, связанная с живописью. Описана связь понятий природы и любви. Приводится пример персидского хайку, связанного с концепцией буддизма. Рассматриваются следующие поэтические принципы: саби, хосоми, футоми, моно незнающие, представленные как оригинальными японскими, так и персидскими хайку. В статье представлены примеры повторений, включая аллитерацию, анафору, эпистрофу и звукоподражание, которые используются в персидском хайку.
Ключевые слова: Хайку, Метрика, Хайкуланд, Киго, Шасей, Саби, Хосоми, Футоми, Моно-но аварэ.
ON THE STRUCTURE AND POETICS OF THE PERSIAN HAIKU
Research article
Kiselyov A.A. *
The State University of Civil Aviation, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
* Corresponding author (kiseliov2a[at]mail.ru)
Abstract
The article is dedicated to the Persian haiku properties discussion. The poetic form origin is told about. The most famous Iranian authors of this poetic genre are named. The influence of Japanese haiku translations on the new styles appearance is pointed out. The properties of haiku composed in non-Japanese language are discussed. The concept of haikuland including the haiku in non-Japanese languages is introduced. The Persian haiku being composed as free verse in opposite to the classical Persian poetry is shown. The deviation of the Persian haiku syllabic structure from that of the Japanese haiku is studied. The absence of rhyme spread over all the haikuland is also taken into account. The presence of one or even two seasonal words named kigo in most of the Persian haiku is confirmed by some examples. The Chinese origin concept of shasei connected with painting is mentioned. The nature and love concepts connection is described. The example of the Persian haiku connected with the concept of Buddhism is cited. The poetical principles named sabi, hosomi, futomi, mono no aware presented by both original Japanese haiku and Persian ones are considered. The examples of repetitions including alliteration, anaphora, epistrophe and onomatopoeia used in Persian haiku are given.
Keywords: Haiku, Metric, Haikuland, Kigo, Shasei, Sabi, Hosomi, Futomi, Mono-no Aware.
1. Introduction
The article is dedicated to the Persian haiku structure and semantics discussion. Such unusual style formation is connected with Iranian poet and musician Sohrab Sepehri's visit to Japan. His main visit aim was the music study. But having appreciated the beauty of Japanese haiku he began to translate it into Persian. After returning to Iran Sepehri successfully composed haiku in Persian [1]. Later Ahmad Shamloo and Askar Pashai translated the book "History of Haiku" by R. H. Blyth into Persian [2]. Due to this book the Iranians got the possibility to read the masterpieces of Japanese poets e.g. Basho, Buson, Issa and many others. As observed [3], "The first translations of Japanese poetry into Persian appeared in literary magazines in the 1950s". These translations became the unusual poems representation. In the 1990s haiku had been transformed to a new poetic form now called Persian haiku. In the 2000s the Persian haiku books composed by Kava Gowharin [4] and Sayyed 'Ali §alehi were published. The new poetic genre is told about in the Iranian newspaper [5]. Many Persian haiku are collected by Massih Talebian [6]. This poetic form remains popular in the Internet sources.
2. Haiku in non-Japanese Languages
The first haiku appeared outside Japan were translations of the Japanese original. Despite their brevity the Japanese verses written in Japanese or translated into other languages are not so easy for understanding. One should get to know the language and culture of Japan. But some people enjoying the art of haiku don't only read or discuss their meaning but also try to create similar verses. It should be also mentioned that the greater part of non-Japanese "haijins" (composers of haiku) don't know the Japanese language relying upon only the translations.
The haiku composition has become a new page of versification in many countries. Most of such haiku are written in the national languages (very rarely in Japanese). All the verses tend to conserve the three-line structure and some of them follow the syllabic structure. As to the matter it depends on author's view and creativity so that Englis h haiku, French haiku, Russian haiku and so on now can be considered not as the Japanese haiku imitations but as the independent poetic forms. There exists
148
the international journal of the modern haiku [7]. The American haiku are observed in [8]. The French association of haiku is very popular among the poetry lovers [9]. The haiku written in different languages including Persian may be considered as a part of haikuland whose area is unlimited. Some verses are connected with the national cultural or geographic space. For example one of modern haiku deals with the holiday of Halloween which is very far from both Japanese and Persian cultural traditions [10]:
Halloween night Terrified that I'm alone
Alissa Kanturek
3. Metrics and Rhyme
3.1. Metrics
The Japanese haiku is known to possess the three-line syllabic structure 5-7-5 though originally it's written in one line. To precise Japanese syllable in haiku means a light syllable (called on, in Japanese #), but further we calculate the amount of syllables being light or long ones. The Persian haiku following this line composition has an arbitrary syllabic structure but the second line tends to be longer than the other ones. This property seems to be common for haiku composed in non-Japanese languages. The Persian haiku syllabic structure can look like as 9-1-8, 4-7-3, 6-6-10, 2-8-4, 4-3-6, 7-7-5 and so on. The deviation from the 5-7-5 model is obviously great but the statistical calculations based on 24 poems taken from [6] show us that the average line length mi (where index i marks the line) doesn't rather differ from the Japanese original: mi = m3 = 5.4; m2 = 6.4. Such results are to be compared with the experimental data analysing. In this case the obtained meanings deviated from the known average meaning follow the distribution close to the Gaussian form. The Persian haiku may even have more than three lines, 3-2-3-5-7 metrics is proposed by Kiarostami [11]:
oil This road
Has been abandoned U ^jjj^ For many years
.ijjb ^ Jjja Though the wild flowers
jjjji ^l^Ji Do not seem to know.
When uniting the 1-2 rows and 3-4 rows one obtains the 5-8-7 metric far from the Japanese haiku metrics but the syllable sum becomes quite equal.
3.2. Rhyme
All the Japanese poetic forms including haiku aren't rhymed. The translations of original haiku as well as haiku composed in non-Japanese language are known to follow this rule. Nevertheless the rhyme concerning two rows may appear as some poetic complement [12]:
No other sound the church bell rings out through the Milky Way.
Verhart
The traditional Persian versification system called aruz is usually rhymed. The classical Persian poetry remains the most favourable for the Persians. Some poems like "Shahnama" created by Firduasi are known all over the world. The modernization of the Persian poetry began in the XX century. Of course the main source of new ideas was the culture of West. The western verses translations inspired the Persians to create the new poetic forms. Nima Yushij was one of the first Persian modernist poets [13]. The modern Persian poetry including Persian haiku doesn't keep the rhyme or the metrics. The free verse example can be met among the poems created by the modern Persian poet Ahmad Shamloo:
fb jj u jJ A lamp is in my hand, a lamp is in my heart.
fjj Jy^ lj pjj jt^jj I polish the rust of my soul.
^ jlii ^ CjI ajjjI jjIjj ^l ajjjI I pass by a mirror that is your mirror
jj jl lj' Till from you
fjUj ^jj^jI. I'll create the eternity.
Besides the modern Persian poetry dealing with many important concepts (economical, ethic, historical and so on) of national life is rather vaster than the classical one.
4. The Concepts of Nature, Love and Buddhism
4.1. Kigo
The Japanese haiku are always connected with nature. The nature description is expressed by the "seasonal indicators" (words or expressions) named kigo (in Japanese ^Ho). The Matsuo Basho's haiku contains two kigo words (kiri "mist", shigure "autumn rain") [14]:
B LCft Mist and autumn rain.
A day when the mountain of Fuji isn't seen, Is really fine.
The most of the Persian haiku also follow this principle. So the Yarta Yaran's haiku has kigo word gondamzar "wheat field" [6]:
JjAjjS ¿jUa Among the wheat fields
out Uj a woman sits, head on her
jtj jtj ' jjlj j- knees, lamenting.
Moreover some Persian haiku have "double kigo" that is two independent seasonal words or expressions. For example the Samaneh Hosseini's haiku contains such construction expressed by the words bad "wind" and behar "spring" [6]:
^ ^ Where does it go
the Passing by breeze ii^..' first day of sPring?
JjJ ^ Massih Talebian
The "double kigo" words found in the Abbas Hossein-Nejad's haiku are deraxt "tree" and zemestan "winter" [6]:
oijj 4Jb Aij^ Blooming trees
deep in the winter
¿liuwj JAC. jJ .
a robin.
Massih Talebian
The other kigo words used in the Persian haiku are mah "moon", qorub "sunset", baran "rain", xursid "sun", nowruz "New Year", darya "river", barf "snow" and so on. Despite of Japan and Iran climate difference the most of season words are identical. But some Persian haiku don't include the kigo words [1]:
ljt as ^ t> I don't know why they say that the horse is a noble animal. lyj jjjjS The pigeon is beautiful.
^ijS gjA ^¿a jj lj^ j And why nobody keeps a vulture in his cage?
This very long verse greatly differing from 5-7-5 syllable haiku has some animal words (asb "horse", kabutar "pigeon", kargas "vulture") instead of the seasonal ones.
4.2. Shasei
The style shasei (in Japanese had come to Japan from China. Firstly it meant the painting style but then entered the literature. It looks like a nature sketch composed in verses: "The whole of life is in each moment, not in the past, not in the future - and thus a true haiku is vitally important because it is a moment of total and genuine awareness of the reality of the Now" [15]. The Japanese haiku created by Seishi Yamaguchi describes the moment of swimming off:
When we were swimming off A whale from Naniwa S^^&io Appeared.
The Reza Arabi's haiku dedicated to the mountain twilight view rather corresponds to shasei [6]:
Mountain dusk „ .... a distant town's lights
^ turn on. g
•^J" u* Massih Talebian
4.3. Concept of Love
The Persian poetry is famous by its great love poems. One of these poems, "Leila and Majnun", is the dramatic epic story of two beloved persons belonging to the two hostile families. The great Persian poet Rudaki tells us about a beloved person without grudging words for her describing [16]:
'Su Aj jl ¿U.J jl jIj jj! J£ jSl Flowers bloom on her cheeks, it's no wonder:
jli jjl Ji jjj^ ^ j^. Ajjl ja Flowers always bloom when she drinks wine.
'ul j '13 j ja aj jjSJj Uilj aj Her hair falls in curls but she stands up straight. jI^jj aj ¿£Jj 'ujj jli aj She has a healthy body but feverish eyes.
But the Japanese verses keep the woman's beauty as a hidden category. The beloved person is rather hinted but not evidently mentioned within a poem. The words like "woman", "beauty", "love", "kiss" and so on are not typical for the Japanese haiku or tanka. The example of tanka by Motoyoshi Shinno included to the anthology "Hyakunin Isshu" CSA— tells about the sorrow but even in the case of death the female image remains unexpressed:
I am very sad, My banner is now In Naniwa.
Ltt Even if I die (in sea)
mufot es^o I'd like to meet (you).
Only few Persian haiku are dedicated to the love topic. But Ehsan Porsa's haiku excites us by the feelings range [6]:
In Braille . . .
jAJJ ^A AS |j ' "'
kisses as you close your eyes.
r^ ^ . Massih Talebian
So one may conclude that the Persian haiku are closer to the classical Persian poetry but not to the Japanese haiku relatively to the concept of love. 4.4. Concept of Buddhism
The Japanese culture is known to be influenced by Zen Buddhism. It may be also observed in the Japanese poetry. The classical and modern Persian poetry belongs to the cultural sphere of Islam. As to the Persian haiku they tend to save some important features of the Japanese originals. Among all the Persian haiku I could find there is only one connected with Buddha. But Reza Ashofteh's haiku looking like shasei is worth to be mentioned. The Buddha's statue is a symbol of the interior light demonstrating the concept of satori [6]:
I jU Buddha's orange cloak . . .
jJ f^V ^ j How luminous it glitters
fjljoj
. ." Under the moon light.
dl^ )6j )J)
Massih Talebian
5. The Japanese Poetics Principles
5.1. Mono-no Aware
The concept of mono-no aware (in Japanese ^©^R^) means sensitivity, hidden beauty not to be told clearly. Matsuo Basho's haiku describes the standard situation when one hears the sound of geta (Japanese shoes) in the night but it is full of unseen charm, aware [14]:
A summer night. Perceived as echo TI®fo Sound of geta.
Sirus Nozari regards the moon through a pine allowing to a reader to enjoy the nature view [6]:
. , . j .i* Looked through the pines
¡»Jj5 ^A JJJJ^ AJ jfij b f
moon
dlA
passed beyond the sky. ^ ^ ^ 01 Massil! Talebian
5.2. Sabi
Sabi (in Japanese is one of the main Japanese poetry principles. It means loneliness or sadness of the surrounding world. It presents in many Japanese verses. So Kiyosuke Ason regarding the fallen leaves thinks about his passed youth:
^•Sftii The fallen flowers
For a next spring ftfcftlty Could wait.
But will again
mmyfrbo Return my y°uth?
The Mr. Ghodsi Ghazi-noor's haiku telling about his far situated beloved person expresses the feeling of sabi [6]:
Our date,
U jlJiJ '
As the sea and the moon
! jjJ AT 4 4U J Ut QjT TT -C 1 1
JJ , J . UTT How far, how hazy.
fA jJ AT
Massih Talebian
5.3. Hosomi
Hosomi (in Japanese means compassion to all creatures who are inhabitant on our Earth. Matsuo Basho in his haiku sympathizes with birds and fish left by spring [14]:
When the spring goes away The birds cry, the fish's g Eyes are full of tears.
In the Persian haiku created by Majid Jamshidi an ant becomes the object of pity [6]:
¿IjL и и SPring mist -
j '\,„ a raging flood
U Ад* ^t for ants.
' * Massih Talebian
The subject of Sirus Rumi is a suffering woman, banu [6]:
Oh, donna!
. . .,.* ,. , How hardness heals
Jju lUHl u^u Ал,
* V .. ' my heart wounds.
»JJ »ij J
Massih Talebian
5.4. Futomi
Futomi (in Japanese appears as the principle opposite to hosomi. It describes the richness of poetic perception. The Japanese example may be presented by Kobayashi Issa:
How it is beautiful! Through the hole of shoji ^©JI |o Milky Way is seen.
Rezanejad Shirazi in his Persian haiku admires the sunrise and the sunset [6]:
Sunrise . . .
Al^jji
"„ my marvel of Peru blooms
Paid rJ Jljj^ jJ •
w- r j at sunset.
"Jü6, jJ ü- i*""6, ajV ,, ., „ , , .
Massih Talebian
6. Repetitions
Alliteration can be found in Japanese haiku though it's unlikely to be called one of its main properties. But the alliteratio n use in Western haiku can be compared with that of "cutting words" kireji [17, p. 203]:
Table 1 - The Japanese and English haiku comparison
Traditional Japanese Haiku (rules) "Traditional" English Haiku (tendencies)
Formal Formal
17 "on" in a pattern of 5-7-5 Kigo (season words) Kireji (cutting words) 3 metrical lines, shorter, longer, shorter Seasonal reference word (s) Alliteration
The Persian haiku seems to follow the Western one in this matter. The alliteration isn't frequent but one can find some examples in haiku of Ghodsi Ghazi-noor [3]:
Cun ab o mah, ce dur Ce dar ham.
The haiku written by Yarta Yaran has an onomatopoeia reduplication zar zar "sounds of cry" (cf. Japanese shiku shiku). Analogically Majid Jamshidi uses nam nam "sounds of rain" (cf. Japanese potsu potsu, za za).
The Persian haiku composed by Mohammad Hoghughi is unique in his repetitions variety: it has anaphora and epistrophe in three lines [6]:
She is neither
1Ш11 uO jl_£» jl AJ
. by the sea nor the sea by her .
liujl jljS LiO AJ j . J
she s just a poet.
1 " n ni j|
Massih Talebian
7. Conclusion
The Persian haiku may be clearly considered as an independent genre of the modern Persian poetry. The metrics of the Persian haiku greatly differs from the Japanese one. The free verse form of the Persian haiku contradicts the quantitative syllabic classical Persian poetry. The Persian haiku follows some features of the Japanese ones. Thus the most of them contains the seasonal indicators called kigo. The concept of love approaches the Persian haiku to the traditional Persian poetry. The Japanese poetical principles such as mono-no aware, satori, hosomi, sabi, futomi and some others can also be observed in the Persian haiku. The new poetical style verses contain several types of repetitions. The Persian haiku obviously needs the further investigation. These verses are to be compared not only with Japanese haiku but also with Western ones. This article may be regarded as an introduction to the area being for the most of people like terra incognita - the Persian haikuland!
Конфликт интересов Conflict of Interest
Не указан. None declared.
Список литературы / References
1. Sohrab Sepehri, Hast ketab / Sohrab Sepehri. - Tehran, - 2000.
2. Ahmad Samlu Haiku: se'r-e Zaponi az agaz ta emruz / Ahmad Samlu and 'Askar Pasa'i, tr. - Tehran, - 2008.
3. Eva Lucie Witte, A history of Persian haiku / Eva Lucie Witte
4. Kava Gowharin, Haiku-haye Irani / Kava Gowharin. - Tehran, - 2002.
5. [cij jj jAj" tfl^JfuU ¿ilj&Li Iranian Newspaper, 2 June 2018, - URL: https://www.pressreader.com/ (accessed: 15.01.2020)
6. Contempory Persian Haiku, selected and translated by Massih Talebian.
7. Modern haiku, - Vol. 50.1, - Winter-Spring. - 2019.
8. Heejung Kim The other American poetry and modernist poetics: Richard Wright, Jack Kerouac, Sonia Sanchez, James Emanuel, and Lenard Moore / Heejung Kim. - Kent State University, 2018.
9. Gong. Revue francophone de haikus, - avril-juin, - 2017, - №55.
10. Haiku Kukai 8 Favorites Global Haiku / Haiku Kukai. - Millikin University, - Fall, 2018.
11. Kiarostami, Gorg-i dar kamin, tr. Karim Emami and Michael Beard, - Tehran, - 2005.
12. Verhart M. Some breath, Bakhuizen 't Hoge Woord / Verhart M. - Netherlands, - 2000.
13. Sinan Ta^delen Modernist or romanticist? Artistic elements in Nima Yushij's afsaneh / Sinan Ta^delen. - SEFAD, - 2017 (37): p. 371-376.
14. ^ ), - 2018.
15. Judy Yoneoka Presents of Mind Rewrapped: A Study of Hybridization Processes in Japanese Renditions of English Haiku / Judy Yoneoka. - Intercultural Communication, Studies XVII: 4, 2008.
16. Sassan Tabatabai, Rudaki and his poetry / Sassan Tabatabai. - Leiden University Press, - 2010.
17. Ross B. Haiku Moment - An Anthology of Contemporary North American Haiku / Ross B. - Charles E. Tuttle Company Inc., Japan, 1993.
Список литературы на английском / References in English
1. Sohrab Sepehri, Hast ketab [Seven books] / Sohrab Sepehri. - Tehran, - 2000. [in Persian]
2. Ahmad Samlu Haiku: se'r-e Zaponi az agaz ta emruz [The Japanese verses from the beginning till now] / Ahmad Samlu and 'Askar Pasa'i, tr. - Tehran, - 2008. [in Persian]
3. Eva Lucie Witte, A history of Persian haiku / Eva Lucie Witte
4. Kava Gowharin, Haiku-haye Irani [The Iranian haiku] / Kava Gowharin. - Tehran, - 2002. [in Persian]
5. cij Jj iS^j" (jlj^^lA ¿iIjgLui [The Swedish poets creating Haiku in Iran], Iranian Newspaper, 2 June 2018, - URL: https://www.pressreader.com/ (accessed: 15.01.2020). [in Persian]
6. Contempory Persian Haiku, selected and translated by Massih Talebian.
7. Modern haiku, - Vol. 50.1, - Winter-Spring. - 2019.
8. Heejung Kim The other American poetry and modernist poetics: Richard Wright, Jack Kerouac, Sonia Sanchez, James Emanuel, and Lenard Moore / Heejung Kim. - Kent State University, 2018.
9. Gong. Revue francophone de haikus [The Haiku Journal for French speaking persons], avril - juin [april - june]- 2017, -№55. [in French]
10. Haiku Kukai 8 Favorites Global Haiku / Haiku Kukai. - Millikin University, - Fall, 2018.
11. Kiarostami, Gorg-i dar kamin [A wolf in a capture], tr. Karim Emami and Michael Beard, - Tehran, - 2005. [in Persian]
12. Verhart M. Some breath, Bakhuizen 't Hoge Woord / Verhart M. - Netherlands, - 2000.
13. Sinan Ta^delen Modernist or romanticist? Artistic elements in Nima Yushij's afsaneh / Sinan Ta^delen. - SEFAD, - 2017 (37): p. 371-376.
14. ["The large type edition" The Basho's Haiku Anthology (700 verses)], - 2018. [in Japanese]
15. Judy Yoneoka Presents of Mind Rewrapped: A Study of Hybridization Processes in Japanese Renditions of English Haiku / Judy Yoneoka. - Intercultural Communication, Studies XVII: 4, 2008.
16. Sassan Tabatabai, Rudaki and his poetry / Sassan Tabatabai. - Leiden University Press, - 2010.
17. Ross B. Haiku Moment - An Anthology of Contemporary North American Haiku / Ross B. - Charles E. Tuttle Company Inc., Japan, 1993.
