• Medea's Haiku •

The Musical Haiku of Carlos Fleitas How do the sounds of haiku affect whether we like or dislike them? For me, the sound and the layout of the haiku are important factors as to whether or not I believe that it is a good or bad haiku. For example, I like haiku that not only mean something, but the sound of the words when spoken actually help make a picture as well. This is the ‘musicality’ of a haiku. For my contemporary author I wanted to do an author who wrote in a different language so that I could compare the musical sounds of haiku written in English. Although English is a beautiful language, I believe that other languages are more musical and fluid and would make more beautiful haiku. Since Spanish is my second language I wanted to do a haiku author who wrote in Spanish, as well as English. Because of these reasons, Dr. Brooks recommended Carlos Fleitas. Fleitas is a truly magnificent haiku writer in both Spanish and English. He first attempted to write haiku in English in October of 2000. However, he has written haiku in Spanish for about 30 years(http://www.conectate.com.uy/~carlosfleitas/indexen.htm). He hasn’t yet attempted to translate, since that is a very tricky art, however he may in the future. Another reason that he was perfect to study for my author is because he has written an essay about the musicality of haiku and how sounds effect the haiku. He often compares writing haiku to playing music. In this paper, I want to look at the Fleitas idea of musicality and how it is apparent in his writing. I also would like to look briefly at his life which has an affect on his style of writing and the moments that he finds significant enough to publish. I am also going to analyze a few of Fleitas haiku in both Spanish and English in order to relate what I like and dislike in his work. Since there were not many sites devoted to the life of the works of Carlos Fleitas, I decided to try to email him with some questions. Luckily he was kind enough to respond and hence, he supplied the research I needed for this paper. This 51-year old haiku artist is from Uruguay South America and now resides in Montevideo, which is the capital city of his country. He attended school at Stella Maris College (Christian Brothers)-School and High School and obtained a University Degree in Psychology. from "Instituto de FilosofÌa Ciencias y Letras." His haiku have mostly been published on the Internet at. The World Haiku Review,The Heron's Nest, Free temps WebS, Haiku Hut, El Rincon del Haiku, El Viejo Faro, Imaginante, and Los Mejores Haiku en la Red. He is married and has one daughter. If you are interested in reading more of Fleitas Haiku you can check out his website at http://www.conectate.com.uy/~carlosfleitas/indexen.htm. He has not yet published a book. Fleitas has only just started to submit his work for awards. His haiku are about many different topics. However he said that the moments that inspire him to write are "when I [Fleitas] am in contact with Nature." He gives the most value to many different kinds of moments when he is writing his haiku. For example, he told me that he enjoys, "moments of creative loneliness." He enjoys contemplation and is "very fond of silence and stillness." The times that he writes the best and finds the most significant are "when the mind is open and clear." He also mentioned that "sensibility and awareness" are two key aspects in the "spirit of haiku." Upon reading his haiku his moments of significance are very apparent. He often uses nature and solitude. An example of a moment of significance in nature would be this haiku in which he describes an Autumn moon. This moment is also a lonely kind of moment. It seems to me as if the person looking at this scene is by themselves just taking in the beauty of the mountain and the violets. October moon leans on the peak of the mountain as violets bloom Fleitas has a very core idea about haiku that he tends to focus on. This idea is the musicality of haiku. This is the reason that I chose to study him, as well as to study Spanish haiku. I had long wondered what made me appreciate Spanish poetry and haiku above English which is my native language. After reading a Fleitas’ article, "Musicality in Haiku Written in Spanish: a Platonism?" I discovered why I tend to enjoy Spanish haiku more. As he said in his essay, "Spanish is a language of syllabic rhythm, characterized by the number of syllables in a poetic line, instead of the number and qualities of the accents, as in English. English is a language of stressed rhythm, that is created by "the recurrence of stress or emphasis within the words and syllables of the poetic line" and the rhythm in a line is measured by the meter. Some meters are of a definite length; others are variable." So while Spanish haiku depend on the rhythmic nature of stresses, English usually depend upon accents. This could be why Spanish flows better than English. If we think of words as sounds, then we become very aware of what we like and what we dislike. This is ‘sonority’ and Fleitas feels that that is the underlining principle that makes us either like or dislike certain poems. Rhthym is part of what makes us like the haiku that we like. Fleitas believes that Spanish haiku can have a very good musicality as long as it is sincere and balanced. It must follow standards however. " The two standards are consonant and assonant rhyme. Consonant rhyme in Spanish happens when the last accented vowel of the verse, and all vowels and consonants that may follow it, are the same in all the rhymed words" He cites this example by Malena Imas also of Uruguay, La playa sola mecidas por las olas las caracolas... Fleitas says that, "The musicality here is brought, not only by means of the use of the consonance, but also as its rhyme merges with the content of the haiku; that is, the waves of the sea with its natural rhythm, and the landscape of a seashore in which the conches are gently rocked, as if it where a lullaby…" Musicality plays a large role in many of Fleitas own haiku. I noticed that many times he will have the same opening line to a haiku and then generate 5 or 6 more haiku from the same opening line. For example, A rocky corner at the quiet lonely seashore rapture at dawn A rocky corner where seagulls land and rest rapture at dawn A rocky corner naked and empty of herbs rapture at dawn A rocky corner with some spots of lone reeds rapture at dawn A rocky corner wet and still after the rain rapture at dawn A rocky corner red and orange crabs hasten rapture at dawn" All of these haiku begin with the line "A rocky corner" and then end with "Rapture at dawn." However the middle of each is quite different. When I asked him about it, he responded that it was a "tradition in Music, to play variations on the same tune. It is also frequent in Jazz." He uses this to help him take new approaches to his writing and also because it "a sight or an idea, can have so many different approaches as it reflects the diversity and fluency of the world. Therofore a group of rocks may have, folded, thousands of haiku." Another important aspect of this approach is that because it invited the reader to help the writer decide which haiku version is best. "I like the reader to have the possibility of looking in the 'inner laboratory' of the writer. I mean, how he can work on different versions of a same haiku and finally choose one to publish. I invite the reader to join, and choose the one he or she likes best. And maybe write a haiku, starting with the fix line..." Fleitas has many haiku which I appreciate and really enjoy. However, the ones that I like the best are the haiku that inspire in me a sense of scenery. My very favorite haiku are the ones that make me sigh afterwards and think vividly of a scene or memory. White autumn moon water lilies shimmering over the lake The reason that I chose this haiku to be the first that I discussed was because I feel that this haiku is such a good example of what a haiku should be. At the beginning of the year our class discussed some aspects and qualities that we felt a haiku should have in order to qualify as a ‘good’ haiku. One of the qualities or characteristics that I appreciated the most was that that haiku be soothing and create a pleasant scene in my mind. This haiku makes a lovely scene in my mind. I can picture a couple taking a midnight soul and the reflection of a full harvest moon in the water right alongside water lilies would make the scene incredibly romantic and just like scenes in movies. I could smell the strong scent of water lilies and picture the entire scene. This is the type of scene you could imagine someone proposing to someone else in. I feel that this haiku is also very soothing and relaxing. Water is a very popular topic in haiku because it is a soothing element. Spring irises I make a small necklace also my chest blooms I enjoyed this haiku for two main reasons. The first is that it is spring right now and so I could really empathize with this haiku. I can picture just wanting to be outside for the sheer pleasure of being outdoors enjoying the sunshine. I also like it because there is the romantic connotation, ‘my chest blooms.’ When I first read the haiku I was confused but then I began to see it as someone falling in love. A metaphor for falling in love or being in love is that your chest or your heart blooms. That was when I really began to like this haiku. Spring is the time usually associated with falling in love and with starting new relationships. I liked the connection between the chest/love blooming an flowers blooming. The second main reason that I enjoyed this haiku is because I love picking flowers and making them into necklaces. The way that the idea of making a necklace of flowers ties in with the underlying theme of spring and love is that I can picture a new couple taking a walk and seeing all of the flowers growing and the man picking the woman flowers. I can also picture him being so fidgety and nervous that he makes a necklace out of the flowers in order to have something to do with his hands and in order to make the girl happy. I really enjoyed this haiku because I could feel the sun and smell the smells of Springtime very easily. Jasmines in bloom sweet fragances at twilight the moon is rising This haiku did a good job of invoking a memory for me. When I was in high school my boyfriend lived in an old farm house and right underneath his window jasmine grew. At night when the day would finally cool off we could catch little drafts of the jasmine floating up to us. This haiku was very soothing. I liked how it didn’t directly tell what the season was and how it didn’t put any people into this haiku. This made the haiku more vague and easier for the reader to put themselves into the haiku. Another idea that we discussed when we were talking about what makes a ‘good’ haiku was the idea that it should be broad enough so that a large amount of people can read it and get a picture, but the haiku should also be narrowed enough so that the reader only gets on picture Silence and scents wisterias in my window the sheets I needed. This haiku is very musical to me. There are a lot of soothing ‘s’ sounds. Such as the word ‘wisterias’ and ‘sheets’ and ‘scents.’ This haiku reminds me of the smell of wisterias; smooth and willowy and almost a light colored lavender smell if smells could have a color. I like this haiku because it is so very soothing. It inspires a sense of peace within me. I get the image of a warm day that is not too warm and there is a gentle breeze which brings about the smell of the wisteria through the window. It is just a quiet and peaceful early Summer evening. I can picture sheets drying on the line outside of his window. And even though he needs the sheets that are drying outside, he isn’t really in too much of a hurry to get them. This is one of those nothing special haiku. I think that this is a moment that no one would ever have remembered if he had not captured it in a haiku. This haiku took an average day and a slight annoyance that his sheets were not dry yet, and turned it into a beautiful and soothing haiku. puddle just for a moment the moon at rest When I asked Carlos Fleitas what his favorite haiku was that he had written in English this was the haiku he chose. I think it does inspire a beautiful moment. I can picture walking home in the dark after a long storm. The rain has let up for a moment and the clouds have pushed back just enough to see the moon, and the moon’s reflection in a still puddle. This haiku, while not one of my very favorites, does generate a very beautiful image of a moment of peace. This haiku makes me feel like there is all of this chaos and stormy weather in your life, but there can still be moments of beauty and peace at the same time. Even when our world is chaotic and full of turmoil, there can still be moments of beauty that can give us hope to get through the rest of the storm. tapping my window I hear the sound of raindrops and lost butterflies This poem uses a lot of Fleitas’ ideas about musicality. The word tapping inspires sound as does the sound of rain. The also used a lot of harsh sounds in this haiku, such as the "p’s" in tapping or the ‘ps’ in raindrops or the "tt’s" in butterflies. These sounds are all in the same feeling of the sound that raindrops and butterflies would make against your window. This haiku makes me feel very desolate. There is the sense of no escape for the lost butterflies. I had never really thought of what happened to butterflies when it rained. However, this haiku made me recognize the fact that when it rains they usually die. This haiku showed the precariousness of life, and how even the beautiful can get lost. This haiku made a very clear image in my mind. I could picture and more importantly hear, the tapping of rain against the glass, I then pictured him turning to glance at the window and then seeing half-drenched butterflies also tapping against the window in a frenzy of wings to try and escape the storm. I like this haiku because it is so easy to hear and to feel what you are hearing. arbol marchito brillan gotas de lluvia bajo la luna The final poem that I chose to review is in Spanish. I wanted to do at least one Spanish haiku because I felt that it was only fitting since that is his original language. My translation of this haiku would be, withered tree, the glittering of drops of rain, under the moon. This haiku is a great example of beauty and ugliness paired together. I can picture this old and very dark tree made beautiful by sparkles of water and the light of the moon. I also like the way it sounds. "Marchito" sounds like such a dark and ugly word. Whereas ‘brillan’ (pronounced bre-yahn) and lluvia (you-vee-ah) sound so much lighter and full of beauty. I also like how the haiku starts with a word with a clear ‘L’ sound, and then ends with one as well- arbol and luna. This haiku is very beautiful in its clear sounds and the image that it inspires to me. In conclusion, Carlos Fleitas is a very gifted poet that has not received the recognition that he deserves. I think that his essay on "Musicality" is very inspiring especially since that is something that I have studied myself. I like the fact that he, much like myself, also carefully measures the words that he will put in, based not only on what they mean, but how they will sound and if their sound will enhance the aesthetics of the haiku. Although the musicality is not the most important aspect of haiku, it is something that often gets brushed aside and should be taken into account. I also really enjoyed his Spanish haiku. This project allowed me the chance to see practice my Spanish skills by not only corresponding with Fleitas, but also with trying to write my own Spanish haiku. I really enjoyed meeting my author and would suggest that many check out his many haiku, haiku prose, and essays that are available on the Internet. His words are truly uplifting and he has a unique style that is fresh and spicy with the help of the Spanish culture. —Medea Mosxona