Hakka 3 Line Poem

Hakka 3 Line Poem

Having studied Haiku for about ten years, through correspondence with a Japanese tutor in Tokyo every once a month, I have realized that Japanese Haiku is one of the best literary styles of expression among worldwide genres of literature, compact and concise.

It's a kind of active mental communication with the Nature, with other people and even with yourself through Haiku making in your daily life. The key word is I feel therefore I am. So, my advice is to take notes of what you feel and what you are impressed, any time any where, in Hakkanese as much as possible. That is a Hakka Haiku or, to be exact, a Hakka Senryu (川柳) which is a kind of free style Haiku, less formal in style and rules, no Kigo or Kidai (seasonal subject matter), more synical or sarcastic in nature, more humorous and funny in expression. It's more like our 打油詩 in essense.


Speaking of Master Basho, I used to toy with the idea that if Basho were alive today and provided with a chnace to make a round the world trip. See, what would his Haiku album come out to be as his present day " Oku no Hosomizi " . It must be very sentimental and critical of present day ecology and politics.


Return to our subject, I think that our 3 Line poem approach should be a free Haiku form of Senryu, at least at this initial stage of approching. The essence is what you feel and what you are impressed. I think in Hakka therefore I am a Hakka, at least in the cource of making a Hakka 3 Line Poem, even for a very short period of time. This might be a smart way to get yourself familiarized with the Hakkaese language.


with best regards

CS Lou 
cslou@ms15.hinet.net