Sarah Knutilla   See Sarah's Essay On Matsuo Allard

R. C. Matsuo-Allard and Marlene Mountain One-Line Haiku R. C. Matsuo Allard is a very important figure in the world of haiku writing and he had several of his haiku published. He made many changes in how haiku could be written. He was a haiku pioneer of sorts. The most important contribution that R. C. Matsuo Allard made to the world of haiku writing was his deep interest in haiku written in only one line of poetry. This form of haiku is very distinctive of his work. The form of the single-line haiku had not been nearly as important or prevalent before R. C. Matsuo Allard began writing in this form. Since he has reinforced the trend to non-traditional haiku, there have been many new developments in the art form. Until recently, there were not very many haiku writers who were willing to stray very far from the traditional haiku form. Since Allard has been writing, though, there have been many different haiku authors to come forward and express their love for and interest in the non-traditional haiku form. The one-line haiku is very interesting. Because there are rarely any real breaks in the line or spacing, it is up to the actual word choices to allow the reader to know where the writer wanted the haiku to go. Many of the one-line haiku are more open to interpretation because there are rarely any spaces or breaks. The reader is able to place the spaces and breaks in the line wherever they choose for them to fall. This allows one haiku to still be read in many very different manners. There are still few haiku writers that specify as strongly as Allard in the form of the one-line haiku. There are several writers, however, that have been able to incorporate the single-line haiku into their collections. Marlene Mountain is one of these authors. In order to be somewhat consistent, the majority of the haiku used in this study will be from the Third Edition of The Haiku Anthology. All of the haiku in this anthology were edited by the same person so there should be a relative amount of consistency among how the haiku are gathered together. Also, although Allard and Mountain have other collections published, it is difficult to come across these. The selections of the haiku that are in the anthology used are very varied and interesting. A lot of the best haiku written by the authors are included in this anthology. Selections from R. C. Matsuo Allard’s book Bird Day Afternoon published by High/Coo will also be used in this study. Allard had several of his best haiku published in this book so several of them will be included in this study as well. Matched Pairs The following haiku will be discussed using the matched pair system. This implies that two haiku by each author will be discussed and then an overall "winner" is chosen based on the merit of that haiku. the silence a droplet of water trickles down a stone —Matsuo Allard     pig and i spring rain —Marlene Mountain Out of these two haiku, I chose the first one as the overall winner. I choose to link these two together because both of the subjects were about water/rain but both authors chose to deal with this subject in entirely different manners. Between these two, I chose to advance the first one. The imagery was more beautiful and seemed to capture the moment better. The haiku by Marlene Mountain does not give enough information to the reader. Openness is wonderful to a point. However, there is not enough of a true story in the haiku by Mountain. A problem that tends to happen in one-line haiku is that some authors tend to have difficulty telling the story in very few lines. a boy—         the chain fence rattling behind him —Matsuo Allard     he leans on the gate going staying —Marlene Mountain The link between these two haiku is the fencing. I imagined a boy in each haiku (although the second one does not really specify an age). I chose to advance the haiku by Marlene Mountain. There is more imagery in this second haiku. The boy is swaying gently on the gate. There could be a slight breeze helping to swing the gate casually to and fro. The boys comes and he goes, following the action of the gate. The first haiku leaves the reader with too unanswered questions. There is a childish simplicity to the imagery of this haiku. Marlene Mountain has a way of words in this haiku that make sure that the reader still knows, somehow, how to break the line. Final Round: the silence a droplet of water trickles down the stone —Matsuo Allard     he leans on the gate going staying —Marlene Mountain I chose the first haiku by Matsuo Allard as the overall winner. In my opinion, out of the two, it is simply "prettier." This haiku proves that Allard is a master of the one-line haiku. He has phrased the words so that the reader will know exactly where the breaks should go and what that means to the remainder of the line. It is amazing how one line of poetry can be so incredibly beautiful. The imagery in this haiku is just really lovely. So it is the overall champion of this round. Matched Pairs—2 deep in my notebook a lily pad floats away —Matsuo Allard     winter night writing letters to get letters —Marlene Mountain The link between these two haiku is the idea of writing. The haiku written by Allard discusses notebooks. The haiku written by Mountain is about writing letters. I chose to advance the haiku by Marlene Mountain. It seems to have more personality to it. More people could relate to this haiku. Although the visual picture of the first haiku is lovely, it does not give enough explanation to the reader. Is it a picture of a lily pad floating in his notebook? Does he not notice the lily pad because he is so absorbed in his notebook? However, these questions prove that this haiku is of great merit. If it were not as good as it is, one could not ask any questions. A one-line haiku must be careful so that it does not take all imagination away from the reader. The writer of a one-line haiku must be careful so that they do not give too much information or far too little. The writer must be able to find the happy medium between these two choices. The haiku written by Mountain is playful. I imagine sitting at a table writing letters to people that I have not heard from for awhile. The letter writing is done because of the possibility that the recipient will write a letter in return. This is something that just about everyone can relate to in some way. Everyone has, at one time, done something simply because they wanted something in return. This is one of those occasions. an icicle the moon drifting through it —Matsuo Allard     seed catalog in the mailbox          cold drizzle —Marlene Mountain The link between these two haiku is weather related. The first haiku is about the night sky on a cold winter’s night. The second haiku is about the cold drizzle of late winter/early spring when the world has yet to fully renew itself yet. The world is in the weather limbo stage. I chose to advance the haiku written by Allard. This is my favorite haiku written by him so I may be a little bit one-sided in this decision. It is simply a beautiful haiku. The imagery for this haiku is wonderful. It can be read several different ways and yet each reading for this haiku is simple and beautiful. The haiku by Marlene Mountain is also very nice. It is a very simple and yet lovely image. I picture a couple sitting together on their couch, watching the snow fall, flipping through the newly arrived seed catalog, planning the spring gardening. This one-line haiku is different from the others that have been examined thus far. There is spacing involved in this haiku. There is a somewhat large space between the two subphrases, "seed catalog in the mailbox" and "cold drizzle." This spacing is well thought out. This spacing ensures that the reader knows that although the two thoughts are connected in the haiku, they must still also be separate ideas. The spacing gives the second thought a strong punch. It places more importance on the "cold drizzle" than if the two phrases had no spacing at all. The decision for advancing was a difficult choice but it was one that makes sense to me. I chose to advance the haiku by Allard. Although I enjoy both of these haiku, the first one has the more lovely imagery. Final Round: an icicle the moon drifting through it —Matsuo Allard     winter night writing letters to get letters —Marlene Mountain The winner of this round, in my opinion, is the haiku written by Matsuo Allard. I think that I am probably a little biased towards this haiku because it is one of my favorites written by him. This haiku is simply beautiful. The simplicity of the words and the simplicity of the image make this haiku the winner that it truly is. The Finals: the silence a droplet of water trickles down the stone —Matsuo Allard     an icicle the moon drifting through it —Matsuo Allard For the overall list, the winner is the second haiku written by Matsuo Allard: an icicle the moon drifting through it This haiku is simply beautiful. I am a bit partial to it, though, because it is my favorite haiku that Allard has written. The imagery is astounding for this haiku. This haiku truly deserves to win. Deciding an overall winner was very difficult. Both of the final haiku are written by Matsuo Allard. If anything, this simply proves that Matsuo Allard is a king of the single-line haiku. His works are beautiful and very simple. When writing haiku, simplicity is very important. One does not have many words or lines in which to paint an entire picture for the reader. Allard and Mountain have two very different styles when it comes to writing haiku. Neither of them have specialized in only single-line haiku but both of them have used this format extensively in their writing. Both of them seem to realize that haiku is an ever-changing art form and both Allard and Mountain seem to be ready and willing to try new formats to fully express their art in their haiku. As long as the writers of haiku are willing to take some chances and try new ways to write in their art form, haiku will continue to be an ever-changing and growing artform. The topics that both Matsuo Allard and Marlene Mountain specify in are very different from eachother. It is these differences that make a study of the two authors an incredibly interesting comparison. R. C. Matsuo Allard tends to be more serious in the writing of his haiku. Yes, there are several times in his collections that he takes the time to just have some fun with the haiku and the language but for the most part, his haiku tend to be more serious. His haiku look at the art that surrounds him in the natural world. He writes about nature and how it affects him and his surroundings. The way that he phrases his words and lines is in a somewhat serious manner. Allard knows that haiku do not have to necessarily always be of "serious" content and subject matter. He also knows that sometimes haiku should be full of fun. As a true master of the single-line haiku, Allard knows when to have more fun with his haiku and when it is best to be a bit more serious with his writing. Marlene Mountain’s style and topics are quite a bit different. Marlene Mountain tends to play with the different possible haiku format more so than many other haiku authors. Her haiku also tend to be a bit more silly and fun. The topics that she uses in her haiku are not nearly as serious as those of Allard. She does write haiku about nature and how it affects her and her surroundings, she still tends to write about more "silly" things than the seriousness and serenity of the natural world. Haiku tends to take itself so incredibly serious to begin with. It is always refreshing to get a little bit of something lighter. R. C. Matsuo Allard is not the only haiku writer to work in the single-line format, however, he was one of the first to really work closely with it. Marlene Mountain has proven that she too can be a champion of the one-line haiku. The single-line haiku is just one of many different forms to use in the writing of haiku. Contemporary authors have strayed away from the ancient haiku writing rules but they have still remained true to the artform, what this artform says, and how it works. Many of the original haiku topics are still used today. They continue to be relevant even though haiku have been written for years upon years. The ideas behind the artform of the haiku have stayed relatively the same. In order to stay fresh and new, the art of the haiku must continue to grown and change but it must still stay true to what haiku is. Writing a haiku in the one-line form will not take away from the legitimacy of the haiku. In fact, if the author is true to himself and what he wants to tell people through his work, it will read. The number of lines in the haiku does not change what the haiku truly is. Works Cited Matsuo - Allard, R. C. Bird Day Afternoon. HIGH/COO Chapbook #4. 1978. Van Den Heuvel, Cor. The Haiku Anthology. Third Edition. W. W. Norton & Company. New York: 1999. —Sarah Knutilla