The challenge of poetic language

A friend recently offered a conundrum: If Haiku is supposed to be written in a 5-7-5 rhythm, then why do the examples one finds, like the following piece by Japanese poet, Basho, not fit the pattern?:


I like to wash,
the dust of this world
In the droplets of dew. 


My response, based on my experiences with Old Irish poetry, was that it was a problem of translation. Very often, translations for one language into another are flawed, either because the translator is not deeply fluent in both languages or because there is no truly GOOD way to translate something. Some translators, like Irish Poet Seamus Heany, acknowledge this and then translate for meaning rather than simply word for word. In the case of poetry, where meaning is fluid, this becomes especially difficult and, in the case of Haiku, the challenge is even greater because the natures of the English language and the Japanese Language are radically different.  This is something I only just had confirmed while researching a better answer to the above conundrum.


It turns out that the Japanese language does not use syllabification the way that the English language does. Instead, Japanese Haiku is measured in one of two ways -- by character (ji) or by sound (on). These two terms are not directly translatable as 'syllable' though people discussing Haiku for an English audience often act as if they are. (For a nice discussion of the issue, see the following article:  Stalking the Wild Onj .  The author of the article, Richard Gilbert,  makes reference to a personal communication from a poet, publisher and translator, Jane Reichold. In it she commented:


Did you know that haiku wars were waged in the 70s over this issue of onji and "syllable" counting? Friendships were permanently destroyed. Haiku groups split up. New ones formed. Persons were reviled. There was much sneering, jeering, and rejection. It was terrible. The problem remains and is just now entering the tanka scene. From Japan, one group is pushing that all our tanka be written in 5-7-5-7-7 but 5-7-5-7-7 what? How can we count our syllables and equate them with this unknown factor which the Japanese count and hold in such high esteem? (J. Reichhold, July 11, 1998. Personal communication.)  


Given the challenges that Haiku pose to professional poets, how then do we explain the form to our students? I suggest that we begin by discussing the challenges of translation -- and thereby the importance of learning more than one language.  Reading something in its original language teaches the student more about the power and variety of language and culture than all the lectures in the world ever could. With rare exceptions (as in the case of the time I tried to read a Linguistics text in German. My struggles came to the attention of a friend who was a native German speaker. When he discovered what I was attempting he said 'Why?! Even native speakers prefer to read the English translation. It makes more sense!") reading the original makes for a very different experience than reading translations. Translations, after all, are filtered through the lens of the translator. An example that one might offer to Elementary students would be the difference between a book one loves ("The Black Stallion", "How to train a Dragon") and the films made with the same titles.  Many times, the film maker draws on the original but produces something only vaguely, tangentially related to the book. Such is often the case with translations of poetry. 


Another example of the challenges posed by translating Poetic forms from one language to another can be seen in translations of Old Irish poetic forms into modern English. In the O.I. form, one takes the last word of the previous line and uses it to start the next. This works in Irish because Old Irish is an 'inflected' language .  Amongst other characteristics of this type of language is the use of  mutation: "whereby initial and final consonants may change to express nuances of grammatical relationship and meaning. Mutation affects verbs, nouns and adjectives. Certain consonants may be capable of changing in two ways, depending on the context."  Irish poets played with this, using the mutations to shape the meaning of the poem. No such tool truly exists in the English language making the poetic form difficult, if not entirely impossible, to use.

You can probably tell I am a language Geek -- this sort of thing delights and fascinates me -- and as a teacher, I find myself determined to share my excitement. My sons, both of whom are word mavins, are accustomed to hearing me explain that fluency in a language is best demonstrated by facile use of the language -- puns and jokes being a good indicator of fluency. At present they are working on mastering their 'native' English (and making some truly awful puns!) but slowly they are working to capture a full understanding of Latin, Greek, Korean, and Spanish. In a world that grows smaller by the day, being fluent in multiple languages seems, to me, to be the first step in becoming truly comfortable with other cultures. And comfort, it is to be hope, may lead to peace. Wouldn't that be a wonderful world? One where our children did not have any knowledge of war or hate but a place where one created poetry across a variety of languages... Am I Polly Anna or Alice, dreaming of Caterpillars and peace?

I I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as a homeschool curriculum, for afterschool enrichment and for summer skill sharpening. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.