HAIKU

-- evolved as an art form in the seventeenth thru early nineteenth centuries in Japan
1) -- principally attentive to time and place
-- must contain a seasonal reference called a "kigo" -- traditionally this reference to season appears in the first or third unit of a three phrase poem
2) -- contains a Buddhist reflection on nature (essentially Zen, i.e. -- a momentary ‘perception’) -- in Christianity, nature has fallen; not so in Buddhism because there was no creator-being in Buddhist cosmology -- no beginning = no end
3) -- relies on the premise that all natural things are i) transient ( ever-changing), ii) contingent (dependent upon occurence/circumstance), iii) they suffer.
4) -- haiku poetry always suggests a “breach of meaning” [Barthes] -- a playful possibility of changing and multiple meanings.

-- root-origin is in the middle ages from a form of collective poetry known as "renga" (three or more poets would construct five line poems strung together in verse):
i) first three lines (called "hokku") in a 5 - 7 - 5 syllable count from poet #1
-- the second line might be broken by a dash or a colon to create a 3 - 4 , or a 4 - 3 syllable split for reasons of rhythm or ‘pivot’ (change of meaning
direction)
ii) next two lines in response in 7 - 7 syllable count from poet #2
iii) first three lines of the second verse, by poet #3, as inspired by the first verse, returns to the 5 - 7 - 5 count, however changes the subject, season or meaning
iv) the intellectual play is traditionally concluded after the 36th verse (36 verses known as "kasen" -- this ‘style’ of poetry exercise known as "haikai no renga"
-- throughout the entire poem-play "kake-kotoba" are important; they are ‘pivot’ words that poetentially change meaning and levels of ‘reading’

-- the advent and widespread employ of the printing press eventually changed the social context of "renga" into the more individualistic creative aspects of "haikai" (this word, in fact, meaning sportive or playful)

-- in the eighteenth century the words "haikai" and "hokku" were collapsed into "haiku"

-- Haiku’s earliest three masters were Basho (the seeker), Buson (the artist), and Issa (the humanist).

"Hokku":

Melancholy wind
Sky black - Anticipation
Rain, where’s your thunder?