| Vol.
I, No. 4 |
January
Thaw |
Jan.
19th, 2001 |
Links to Books & Lit On-Line
Haiku Poetry
The amount of info on the web is enormous, as
anyone who's ever tried to run a search can attest to. And, to put it all
in context, best estimates say that only a fraction, maybe 20 - 40 % of what's
out there is actually making its way to the search engines.
Well ... Here at DownStreet, we'd like to try to help. So
each issue, we post a few links in Books & Lit to sites that might interest
you. Sometimes the links will be related to one another ...
sometimes we'll just offer up a somewhat random sampling. In either case,
we think we might be able to help you find the kind of site you've been looking
for.
Of course, while we can't vouch for the fact that every link
we provide will be of interest to everyone, we do our best to filter out the
noise and the bustle. ...
Links to Haiku Poetry On-Line
 |
|
Haiku |
In conjunction with this month's Local
Writing: 3 Haiku, by Marc Awodey, we thought it might be both
interesting & helpful to feature some sites devoted to haiku poetry.
... As we mentioned, haiku was originally a traditional Japanese
form, with a short, 3-line, 17-syllable structure, usually with lines of 5-7-5
syllables. Haiku, of course, has since migrated throughout the
world -- sometimes retaining the original structure, sometimes not. In our
searches, we even found several on-line sites devoted to generating haiku
from user responses. {We decided to pass on them for these links, but if
you're interested, they're not hard to find.} ...
But even beyond the computer-generated haiku, there are
lots of sites out there. And we won't swear that these are the best of
what's available. But they are solid, varied, and informative. ...
-
Haiku Links
As with most kinds of sites, there are
plenty of pages with links. This one, from Mark Alan
Osterhaus, is one of our favorites. ... It's
reasonably fast, and fairly extensive, with about twelve
dozen links to a variety of haiku-related sites.
While not the most extensive listing, it
did seem to us to offer some of the best quality links for
those interested in becoming familiar with haiku.
Contents include: Haiku Journals / Publishers Online,
Haiku Journals / Publishers Hardcopy, Haiku Anthologies
& Projects Online, Haiku Poet's Web Sites, Haiku
Essays and Papers, Haiku Groups and Associations, Haiku
Research and Resources, and something he calls the
"Haiku Dumpster (a.k.a. Links to Psuedo
Haiku)."
.
The list of poets is long, and that of Research
& Resources shorter than we'd've liked. But this
is still a site worth a visit.
Rating: **** [4 stars]
-
The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words
While not specifically a haiku
site, everyone familiar with form knows the critical
place which the seasons often play in haiku
poetry. ... This site, then, provides a
well-organized and useful function: It lists 500
words, in both English and transliterated Japanese,
associated with the seasons. ...
The contents -- which are all on a single page -- were
selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto and translated by Kris
Young Kondo and William J. Higginson. One of the
more intriguing features is that each season -- Spring,
Summer, Autumn, Winter, and the New Year -- lists the
words associated with the season in parallel
sub-categories, viz., The Seasons, The Heavens, The
Earth, Humanity, Observances, Animals, and Plants.
There's also an interesting introduction to the role of
seasonal references -- called "Why the 'Part'
of the Season is Important" -- in both haiku
and linked verse compositions.
This site, then, is an interesting adjunct to reading
traditional Japanese haiku. But more than
that, it got us thinking about what such a seasonal list
might look like for our own neighborhood. {Things
to do today / If only I had more time / I'd write a
poem}.
Rating: **** [4 stars]
-
CHILDREN'S HAIKU GARDEN
Ok. There are lots of haiku
sites out there with lots of folks writing their
hearts out. ... But for some reason, this
site grabbed us. ...
As it says on the main page,
"This garden is for the haiku verses with
illustrations from Japanese children and other
children from the USA or other countries."
Currently, there are twelve 'gardens', including three
American, two Canadian, two British, and five
Japanese. Click on any one and you're taken to
page of thumbnails with first lines from each of haiku
available. Click on the thumbnail, and you'll
see a larger image as well as the complete poem.
In addition, there's a link from the main page to
something called "Logos & Haiku," a
potpourri of additional links to a haiku quiz,
some paintings, a series of thoughts under "What
is haiku?" ... and more.
Don't get us wrong. There's lots of worthwhile haiku poetry out
there. But for sheer imaginative simplicity, not
to mention some great 'primitive' paintings, this site
is definitely worth a look
Rating: **** [4 stars]
.
Japanese - English Dictionary Server
As a bonus link, we couldn't resist including
this one ... a straightforward site devoted to
Japanese-English two-way translation, with the added
benefit of being able to load the kanji
{ideograms} without having to install the Japanese
language pack in your browser.
.
So, if you want to know what the Japanese
character looks like for a word, simply type it in, then
click on 'load kanji'. A useful tool, too, to get
at some of the idioms of the Japanese language.
.
Rating: ****1/2 [4-1/2 stars]
*******
*******
If you know of any links that you think are
worthwhile, why not send them along to ...
links@downstreetmagazine.com
...
If we agree, we'll be happy to include them
in an upcoming issue to pass the word along. ...
Thanks.
*******
*******
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