R. H Blyth Portrait from the British Haiku Society webpage
In the introduction to Haiku, Volume 3: Summer and Autumn, by R. H. Blyth, may be found the following:
"When we read these verses, we realize that haiku is a way of living. It offers itself to mankind, not as a substitute for Christianity or Buddhism, but as their fulfillment. It is "Love one another" applied to all things without exception."
This statement, quite simply, is the one that separates Blyth's detractors from his admirers. An article by Donna Farrell in 2004 addresses the Blyth approach (spiritual or Zen) versus the H. G. Henderson approach (imaginative or creative). The article is brief and to the point, and well worth a peek. I very much like her conclusion:
Perhaps the time has come for two umbrellas (whatever their size) rather than one.
There is, of course, a third approach, one which Ed Baker has espoused here, and in correspondence, on a number of occasions: he calls his haiku-like poems "shorties," and has done with it.
Cheers, Ed!
My life,—
How much more of it remains?
The night is brief.
Shiki
their colorful umbrellas
fluttering...
low tide
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue
Umbrellas by Cardboard Antlers
best,
Don
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