hokku

is the opening stanza of a 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). In the late 19th century, Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) renamed the standalone ''hokku'' as "''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. 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 the 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 seasons. (The following verse fell to the host, who would then respond with a compliment to the guest, again, usually symbolically).

Form

Typically, a ''hokku'' is 17 moras (or '' on'') in length, composed of three metrical units of 5, 7 and 5 moras respectively. Alone among the verses of a poem, the ''hokku'' includes a ''kireji'' or "cutting-word" that appears at the end of one of its three metrical units. Like all of the other stanzas, 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 English 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 a station master in Sukagawa at the entrance to Michinoku, in present-day Fukushima:

Hearing the rice-planting songs in the fields, Bashō composed a poem that complimented the host on the elegance of his home and region—which he associated with the historical "beginnings" (''hajime'') of ''fūryū'' or poetic art—while suggesting his joy and gratitude at being able to compose linked verse or "poetry" (''fūryū'') for the "first time" (''hajime'') in the Interior (''oku''). Haruo Shirane, ''Traces Of Dreams'', 1998. pp. 161-163

See also

* ''Haikai''
* ''Haiku''
* ''Renga''
* ''Renku''

References

{{Japanese poetry

Japanese literature
Japanese poetry
Haikai forms
Japanese literary terminology
Articles containing Japanese poems