Poetry

1. Poetry

2. Haiku A brief, unrhymed poem three lines long. In Japanese each haiku has 17 syllables: the 1st and last lines have 5 syllables each and the middle line has 7. This strict, compressed form challenges haiku poets to convey their feelings and observations in few vivid images.

3. Haiku Rules You can ignore the 17-syllable rule, but you must have 3 lines The poem must contain a word or images suggesting a season of the year The Haiku must not explain itself; the images must suggest their meaning to the reader, w/ the end result being a flash of understanding- a moment when all the parts come together

4. Haiku Poets • Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) • The greatest of the classical haiku poets • Son of a samurai and spent his youth in the service of a local lord • Began writing when he was 9 • His poetry is shaped by his devotion to Zen Buddhism and his travels • In 1684, he set out on the first of his many journeys through Japan in which he endured great discomfort and loneliness

5. Haiku Poets UejimaOnitsura (1660-1738) -one of Basho’s greatest admirers -his poems are generally more exuberant than Basho’s and somewhat less philosophical

6. Haiku Poets • Taniguchi Buson (1715-1783) • A younger contemporary of Onitsura • His haiku are generally regarded as second only to Basho’s • Also was an accomplished painter • His poems reflect his fascination with light and color

7. Haiku Poets Kobayashi Issa (1762-1826) -one of the most beloved of Japan’s haiku masters -lived a sad life -his mom died when he was an infant and he was sent from home to study when he was 14 -his wife bore 5 children, all of them died in infancy, then his wife fell ill and died -Issa’s poems are filled with barely suppressed emotion, though they are rarely sentimental.

8. Tanka Poems Means “short songs”; brief lyrical poems Traditional tanka consists of exactly 31 syllables, divided among 5 lines 3 of the poems lines have 7 syllables each, and the other 2 have 5 syllables each All tanka evoke strong images and emotions, and the best are subtle and indirect

9. Tanka Poems What the poet does not say is as important as what he or she does say It is up to the reader to connect what is stated directly with what is implied The earliest known tanka appeared in a collection of poems called the Manyoshu, or Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves. Most of the tanka in the Manyoshudescribe nature, the impermanence of life, and the joys and sorrows of solitude and love

10. Tanka Poets Lady Ise (late 9th –mid-10th centuries) -born into a highly educated family of scholars and poets -her father served as governor of various provinces - During his tenure, Lady Ise entered court service, where she became lady in waiting to the emperor’s consort and later a lover of the emperor himself

11. Tanka Poets • OshikochiMitsune (late 10th century) • Among the greatest poets of the 9th century Heian era in Japan • One of the editors of the Kokinshu, the 2nd great anthology of tanka verse • His poems were often melancholy, but never sentimental

12. Tanka Poets • Ki no Tsurayuki (884-946) • Became a high court official as well as an accomplished writer and calligrapher • In his time most cultured Japanese men wrote in Chinese • Since Tsurayuki preferred to write in Japanese but wanted to avoid ridicule, he wrote his diary under a woman’s name

13. Tanka Poets • Ono no Komachi (mid 9th century) • Probably the most revered of the poets whose tanka appeared in the Kokinshu. • Her great physical beauty and the emotional power of her verse made her a celebrated figure in mid-9th century Japan • After her death, she was the subject of many popular legends, due primarily to the intensity and passion of her poems

14. Tanka Poets • Saigyo (1118-1190) • Sometimes referred to as Priest Saigo, was among the most accomplished of the 12th century writers of tanka • He abandoned his position as a royal bodyguard at the age of 23 to become a priest • He wrote tanka during his years of wandering through the Japanese countryside

15. Sonnets A sonnet is a 14 line lyric poem The word sonnet is derived from the Italian word sonetto, meaning “little sound”, or “song’ One of the most difficult forms for a poet to master because of its rigid structural requirements It must conform to strict patterns of rhythm and rhyme

16. The Petrarchan Sonnet In Italy the sonnet form was perfected by Francesco Petrarca, known in English as Petrarch The form he popularized is known as the Italian, or Petrarchan, sonnet. It has 2 parts: an 8 line section, called the octave, followed by a 6 line section, called the sestet.

17. The Petrarchan Sonnet The octave rhymes abbaabba, and the sestet ryhmescdcde, cdcdcd, ccdeed, or cdcdee The transaction between the 2 parts, called the volta, or turn, is usually found in the 9th line- the beginning of the sestet This structure makes the Italian sonnet the ideal form for a 2 part statement: question-answer, problem-solution, or theme-comment

18. The Petrarchan Sonnet Also known for its use of the Petrarchan conceit- a metaphor or simile that makes a striking and sometimes fanciful comparison, usually to describe the beauty of women or the pangs of love

19. The Shakespearean Sonnet 14 lines long This sonnet form uses 3 four line units, called quatrains, followed by a final couplet The typical rhyme scheme is ababcdcdefefgg Is written in meter, or rhythmic pattern, called iambic pentameter, with each line consisting of 5 unstressed syllables alternating with 5 stressed syllables

20. Renaissance Sonnet Writers • Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) • A man of 2 worlds: the dying Middle Ages and the emerging Renaissance • He suffered considerably as he tried to balance his own worldly ambitions and desires with the religious values of medieval life • His first series of sonnets set the fashion throughout the Renaissance for bittersweet love lyrics

21. Renaissance Sonnet Writers Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585) -served as a page in the court of the Scottish King James V -became deaf at age 16 and began studying the classics - With 6 other poets, he founded a group called Pleiade, that used the French vernacular in their odes, elegies, and satires, which were based on the works of classical Greek and Roman poets

22. Lyric Poetry Poetry that focuses on expressing private emotions or thoughts Derived from lyre, the stringed instruments on which poets accompanied themselves Most lyric poems are short, and they usually imply rather than directly state a single strong emotion Lyric poets often write to express their feelings about the people closest to them

23. Lyric Poets • Sappho (late 17th century B.C.) • Born on the Greek island of Lesbos • She’s considered a supreme Greek Lyric poet of this period • Composes most of her poems in a style called monody- the poems were meant to be sung by a single voice, rather than by a chorus

24. Lyric Poets • Catullus (@ 84-54 B.C.) - turned away from the models of the Roman epics, and found inspiration in the lyric poetry of the ancient Greeks • @ 57 B.C., he left Rome to visit the tomb of his brother and during his travels he wrote much about his feelings of love and loss • He popularized the use of the elegiac couplet- a pair of lines consisting of a hexameter (6 metrical feet) and a pentameter (5 metrical feet)

25. T’ang Dynasty Poets • Li Po (701-762) • Although he was probably born in central Asia, he grew up in the providence of Szechwan in southwestern China • His journeys served to spread his fame as a poet • He abandoned his nomadic life at one point to become an imperial court poet

26. T’ang Dynasty Poets • Tu Fu (A.D. 712-770) • Born into a noble family of scholar-officials • When a violent rebellion ended the T’ang dynasty, Tu Fu was often in search of work, and his remaining years were marked by loss, hardship, and poor health • His poetry is often tinged with bitterness and melancholy

27. T’ang Dynasty Poets • Po Chu-i (772-846) • Grew up in Shensi province as the son of a minor government official • During his lifetime he was in and out of government positions, sometimes banished to the provinces and then later recalled to the capital • Much of his poetry is lighthearted and deals with his personal experiences and feelings

28. T’ang Dynasty Poets • Han-shan (late 8th century) • Lived alone in China for most of his life • his real name and the time and place of his birth and death are unknown • His poems are the main source of info about him • His best-known poems describe the beauty and ruggedness of his mountain retreat, but they also have a symbolic, spiritual dimension, representing the struggle for true knowledge and peace

29. Romantic Writers often looked to nature and rural settings to explain complex feelings about themselves and to explore universal themes

30. Narrative Poetry Tells a story