Furu ike ya
Kawazu tobikomu
Mizu no oto
-Bashō
The ancient pond
A frog jumps in:
Plop!
-Donald Keene
The tradition of Japanese poetry dates back to ancient times, as far back as the eighth century with the compilation of the Man’yōshū, the oldest anthology of Japanese poetry (Donald Keene). Originally, longer poems, known as chōka, dominated Japanese culture, due to their ability to convey more than shorter poems. Over time, with the creation of linked verse games for the elite in the Heian period, a shift towards shorter poems, known as tanka, occurred. Eventually, this lead to the popularity of Japanese haiku, governed by the rule of 5-7-5 syllables. This shorter style allowed people of all backgrounds to express themselves in Japanese haiku, regardless of social status.
While Japanese haiku allowed people of all walks of life a form of expression, this expression can often be vague, making the translation process more difficult. For example, in Japanese, plural and singular nouns do not exist; a reader determines whether a noun mentioned is singular or plural based on context. However, with only 17 syllables, there is often not enough context for the reader to establish such information. Similarly, haikus often employ allusions to other Japanese literature. While such allusions can be translated into other languages, without a cultural context, these allusions lose their original meaning.
This vagueness and brevity are part of the appeal of haiku in Japanese; they use the structures inherent in Japanese in order to allow the reader to contemplate what the haiku’s meaning is and even come up with a unique interpretation of the haiku. Translating does not allow the same vagueness or structure unique to the Japanese language to remain intact. Maintaining the proper 17 syllable form while translating literally is impossible.
In English, where plural and singular nouns exist together with more tenses and connecting words, the vagueness so integral to Japanese haiku is often lost. For example, the haiku above is one of the most famous by Matsuo Bashō, one of the greatest writers of the Tokugawa period. Known as the “Frog Haiku,” this haiku alone has over thirty translations into English, each with a slightly differing image and meaning.
It is doubtful that any Japanese haiku can be literally translated into English due to the stark structural differences between the two languages. While a Japanese haiku can only be best understood in its original language, English translations, even multiple translations per haiku, simply reflect one possible interpretation. Even though some of the intent and potential meaning is lost in the translation process, an English reader may be more easily able to establish an interpretation in English than a Japanese reader, due to the more specific style of the English language.
Are you a budding haiku artist? Leave us your own original haiku in the comments (in any language)!
