Haiku Diction: The Use of Words in Haiku
Haiku has been described as “the wordless poem.” Because of need for brevity, the haiku poet must use language with extreme economy and accuracy and employ techniques that are very different from those used in crafting Western-style poems. In this essay we will explore the poetics and aesthetics of English-language haiku as they apply to the poet’s choice and deployment of words.
In working with words, there are three basic strategies that a haiku poet can adopt:
1. minimizing the number of words in the first place
2. being sure that every word used is the right one
3. making each word as full of meaning as possible
We’ll look at some of these approaches, concentrating on questions of simplicity and conciseness of language, levels of poetic diction and choice of words, the use of metaphor and simile, the importance of allusion, and related questions of the haiku craft.
Haiku and Conventional Poems
It is important to know what we are trying to do with our hai- ku, which usually is significantly different from conventional poetry. We’re talking about English-language haiku, and our examples will be mostly that. Still, haiku evolved from Japa- nese haiku, and we’ll need to touch on Japanese poetics and aesthetics as well.
The goal of haiku is to communicate. The means of communi- cation has to be words, yet words are an inefficient, mislead- ing, even meretricious vehicle for the conveyance of meaning. It would be wonderful if the haiku poet, like the graphic artist, could communicate images directly, without the medium of words, but of course that is not possible.
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