Poetry Form - The Haiga


The Haiga Form
by J. Zimmerman

* Form. * Examples: Linda Papanicolaou's haiga site.

Form
haiga [haikai painting]
Traditionally this is a painting executed in the haikai spirit. Often it is in a spontaneous, rough, and abstract style. To it is added or juxtaposed a hokku [Japanese "opening verse" for a linked poem] or an independent poem, a haiku. Less commonly a poem that is not in such a form can be used.

Books on Haiku.

Buy Essential Haiku The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa edited by Robert Hass. The past-poet laureate of the U.S.A has compiled this enthralling collection of his own essays in which he summarizes the lives of three masters and inventors of the haiku tradition in Japan:
  • Matsuo Basho (1644-94), the ascetic and seeker,
  • Yosa Buson (1716-83), the artist, and
  • Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), the humanist.
He presents their lives, their prose, and 300 of their poems.
Buy Haiku Seasons The Haiku Seasons: Poetry of the Natural World by William J. Higginson.
Buy Haiku World Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac by William J. Higginson, Meagan Calogeras (Editor).

Other Books.

Books on Other Poetry Forms.

[Thanks for visiting.]