I've recently read the techniques of haiku by Late Ms. Jane Reichold Ma'am. She wrote that author's intervention should be minimum in haiku, e.g. instead of writing 'I listen', she would use 'listening' to eliminate the 'I'. But few weeks before, I've read we should not use gerund in haiku. Which path would you advise to follow- gerund or no gerund?
Some people get confused over what is a gerund, and confuse certain present participles etc...
Jane Reichhold (two 'h's):
https://poetrysociety.org.nz/affiliates/haiku-nz/haiku-poems-articles/my-favourite-haiku/favourite-haiku-by-jane-reichhold/
Alan
Quote from: XYZ on April 01, 2019, 06:29:45 AM
I've recently read the techniques of haiku by Late Ms. Jane Reichold Ma'am. She wrote that author's intervention should be minimum in haiku, e.g. instead of writing 'I listen', she would use 'listening' to eliminate the 'I'. But few weeks before, I've read we should not use gerund in haiku. Which path would you advise to follow- gerund or no gerund?
An extremely important link about what matters in a haiku. I've bookmarked it. Thank you Sir.
Quote from: AlanSummers on April 01, 2019, 07:47:33 AM
Some people get confused over what is a gerund, and confuse certain present participles etc...
Jane Reichhold (two 'h's):
https://poetrysociety.org.nz/affiliates/haiku-nz/haiku-poems-articles/my-favourite-haiku/favourite-haiku-by-jane-reichhold/
Alan
Quote from: XYZ on April 01, 2019, 06:29:45 AM
I've recently read the techniques of haiku by Late Ms. Jane Reichold Ma'am. She wrote that author's intervention should be minimum in haiku, e.g. instead of writing 'I listen', she would use 'listening' to eliminate the 'I'. But few weeks before, I've read we should not use gerund in haiku. Which path would you advise to follow- gerund or no gerund?
Quote from: AlanSummers on April 01, 2019, 07:47:33 AM
Some people get confused over what is a gerund, and confuse certain present participles etc...
Jane Reichhold (two 'h's):
https://poetrysociety.org.nz/affiliates/haiku-nz/haiku-poems-articles/my-favourite-haiku/favourite-haiku-by-jane-reichhold/
Alan
Quote from: XYZ on April 01, 2019, 06:29:45 AM
I've recently read the techniques of haiku by Late Ms. Jane Reichold Ma'am. She wrote that author's intervention should be minimum in haiku, e.g. instead of writing 'I listen', she would use 'listening' to eliminate the 'I'. But few weeks before, I've read we should not use gerund in haiku. Which path would you advise to follow- gerund or no gerund?
Bill Higginson explains it really well:
A SENSE OF THE GENRE, A SENSE OF THE LANGUAGE
William J. Higginson
http://www.haikuworld.org/begin/whigginson.sep2003.html
Excerpt:
Most English words ending in '-ing' are either nouns or partial verbs, called 'present participles'. Such nouns seem relatively rare in haiku, as they usually suggest an abstract level of thinking.
The last word of that sentence is a good example of the '-ing' form as noun; grammarians call it a 'gerund'. When a gerund does show up in a haiku, it had better have an article in front to prevent it from being understood as a verb:
evening fog . . .
whispering of mothers
quiets the children
Can't you just hear the fog going around whispering about mothers? Simply putting 'the' before 'whispering' would eliminate the problem. (See what telegraphese does to a haiku?)
A present participle can get a haiku in trouble. The worst are participles without grammatical subjects (and therefore 'dangling'). Since participles can appear before—and change the meanings of—nouns, one lacking a subject before it normally refers to what follows. A penchant for omitting subjects often yields ludicrous results, of which the modest author may be quite unaware:
choking, coughing,
the moon shining over
the quiet lake
Heard the moon cough lately? Much better to give the action to a third person, and put the verbs in the plain present tense:
he chokes and coughs . . .
the moon shines over
the quiet lake
A SENSE OF THE GENRE, A SENSE OF THE LANGUAGE
William J. Higginson
http://www.haikuworld.org/begin/whigginson.sep2003.html
It resolves my confusion completely. Thanks a lot Sir.
Quote from: AlanSummers on April 02, 2019, 04:20:38 AM
Bill Higginson explains it really well:
A SENSE OF THE GENRE, A SENSE OF THE LANGUAGE
William J. Higginson
http://www.haikuworld.org/begin/whigginson.sep2003.html
Excerpt:
Most English words ending in '-ing' are either nouns or partial verbs, called 'present participles'. Such nouns seem relatively rare in haiku, as they usually suggest an abstract level of thinking.
The last word of that sentence is a good example of the '-ing' form as noun; grammarians call it a 'gerund'. When a gerund does show up in a haiku, it had better have an article in front to prevent it from being understood as a verb:
evening fog . . .
whispering of mothers
quiets the children
Can't you just hear the fog going around whispering about mothers? Simply putting 'the' before 'whispering' would eliminate the problem. (See what telegraphese does to a haiku?)
A present participle can get a haiku in trouble. The worst are participles without grammatical subjects (and therefore 'dangling'). Since participles can appear before—and change the meanings of—nouns, one lacking a subject before it normally refers to what follows. A penchant for omitting subjects often yields ludicrous results, of which the modest author may be quite unaware:
choking, coughing,
the moon shining over
the quiet lake
Heard the moon cough lately? Much better to give the action to a third person, and put the verbs in the plain present tense:
he chokes and coughs . . .
the moon shines over
the quiet lake
A SENSE OF THE GENRE, A SENSE OF THE LANGUAGE
William J. Higginson
http://www.haikuworld.org/begin/whigginson.sep2003.html