It is not merely the brevity by which the haiku isolates a particular group of phenomena from all the rest nor its suggestiveness, through which it reveals a whole world of experience. It is not only in its remarkable use of the season word, by which it gives us a feeling of a quarter of the year nor its faint all-pervading humour. Its peculiar quality is its self-effacing, self-annihilative nature, by which it enables us, more than any other form of literature, to grasp the thing-in-itself.
More Quotes from Reginald Horace Blyth:
Regarding R. H. Blyth Blyth's four volume Haiku became especially popular at this time 1950's because his translations were based on the assumption that the haiku was the poetic expression of Zen. Not surprisingly, his books attracted the attention of the Beat school, most notably writers such as Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder and Jack Kerouac, all of whom had a prior interest in Zen.Reginald Horace Blyth
A haiku is the expression of a temporary enlightenment, in which we see into the life of things.
Reginald Horace Blyth
If all men lead mechanical, unpoetical lives, this is the real nihilism, the real undoing of the world.
Reginald Horace Blyth
These are some of the characteristics of the state of mind which the creation and appreciation of haiku demand Selflessness, Loneliness, Grateful Acceptance, Wordlessness, Non-intellectuality, Contradictoriness, Humor, Freedom, Non-morality, Simplicity, Materiality, Love, and Courage.
Reginald Horace Blyth
Regarding R. H. Blyth Blyth is sometimes perilous, naturally, since he's a high-handed old poem himself, but he's also sublime and who goes to poetry for safety anyway.
Reginald Horace Blyth
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Based on Topics: Brevity Quotes, Emotions Quotes, Experience Quotes, Jokes & Humor Quotes, Literature Quotes, Nature Quotes, Quality QuotesBased on Keywords: all-pervading, haiku, isolates, self-effacing, suggestiveness
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