Whats the difference between using a caesura and a colon in a haiku? I see many haiku often using both - used as second cut in a sense? Asking this in terms of Western haiku. Thanks!
Hi Tom,Quote from: HaikuHampster on November 28, 2014, 01:53:03 PM
Whats the difference between using a caesura and a colon in a haiku? I see many haiku often using both - used as second cut in a sense? Asking this in terms of Western haiku. Thanks!
I guess normal rules apply, to be honest.
A colon suggests that one part introduces the next part, one thing being the same as the second written part, like a metaphor or a simile, or simply enlarging upon the first part of the haiku.
By caesura, if you mean the use of an ellipsis, I see it as a telegraphed pause, where a reader might feel they can't see one without it being signposted.
I would say there's only one cut, that a slowing down elsewhere isn't a cut method.
warm regards,
Alan
Given that there are different kinds of readers, could it be possible that there are different ways they pause in a haiku,
in regular poetry, we use line breaks or punctuation, (or spaces...which is sometimes not possible - for example on Facebook, spacing is not possible as a format or even punctuation.)
So is it better to show the cut, with the use of dashes, comma etc, or is it better to use lie breaks?
This is something I have been reading a lot on, but somehow there is no clear instruction. I prefer to use a double-em, it always gains the reader's attention and thereby a pause.
Hi Anna,Quote from: Anna on January 20, 2015, 06:14:02 PM
Given that there are different kinds of readers, could it be possible that there are different ways they pause in a haiku,
I would imagine that some haiku writers might use punctuation differently than used in other poetry, other literary genres.
Quote
in regular poetry, we use line breaks or punctuation, (or spaces...which is sometimes not possible - for example on Facebook, spacing is not possible as a format or even punctuation.)
Line breaks, and enjambment have possibly a more important role in other poetry, as haiku is not only incredibly brief, but often made up of a single line section (hence it automatically has its own line break) and a two-line phrase which should, mostly, not have an extreme enjambment like, say, the New York Poets?
Quote
So is it better to show the cut, with the use of dashes, comma etc, or is it better to use lie breaks?
This is something I have been reading a lot on, but somehow there is no clear instruction. I prefer to use a double-em, it always gains the reader's attention and thereby a pause.
I've started to put more visual punctuation in some haiku to help some know (including non-haiku poets) know where there are cuts/line breaks lie. Perhaps some haiku require closer reading than longer poems?
I leave it up to the individual author myself. :) Although I don't often feel visual punctuation is necessary in such brevity.
Don Baird posted this elsewhere on THF:Quote
— For a break that is similar to hyphen, a sort of "that is" feeling; & or, general pause; still connective but not as much as ellipsis.
; For a greater disjunction
: For two parts that are very equal in balance ... two halves that make a whole ... but of equal strength ... and also for the greatest disjunction.
Don Baird
http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/forum_sm/index.php?topic=5486.0
haiku traditionally employ "the technique of cutting"--i.e., a division in thought between the earlier and later portions of the poem. These two divisions must be able to stand independently from each other, but each one must also enrich the reader's understanding of the other section. In English translation, this division is often (but not always) indicated through punctuation marks such as a dash, colon, semicolon, or ellipsis.
https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/What_are_Haiku.pdf
right, got it, thanks for the patient answer Alan. Though I have to state that I have read some rather to-the rule- usage of the semi-colon, which was technically right but aesthetically jarring to the eye. So once again, it is the choice of the poet, I guess. And when i get the hang of it, I will be most keen to break the rules, it may take a lifetime though :]
will read the links and mull over