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Tarlac State University

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EL 112
Survey of Afro-Asian Literature

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

By:
ASUNCION, Efren L
GAPASIN, Joshua P.
BSEd English 2-D

Sheila Marie O. David

March 2020

EL 112 l Survey of Afro- Asian Literature

 I. THESIS STATEMENT

Upon researching, these three well-known poems which are the Sijo,
Haiku, and Chinese Haiku share a common ancestry with each other because of
several similarities that they have specifically when it comes to style because
these three poems use a narrative and thematic style, bringing dramatic flair and
dynamic story telling the art of form. However, there are still several differences
that we can notice between the three poems.

Sijo Korean Poetry

Sijo is a Korean poetic form that was introduced and written in the 14 th
Century during the Goryeo dynasty. It was being flourished and widely utilize up
until the Joseon dynasty. During the Joseon Dynasty, Sijo became popular only to
the Chinese people, ruling class and most especially to the Yangban. Sijo is
written in classical Chinese so that it’s difficult to learn because of the complexity
of Chinese characters.
During the 18th century Sijo became modern. Great changes happened;
Sijo was translated into Korean language. The people of Korean began to write
their own Sijo and perform in public. This significant event led to the creation of
different forms of Sijo such as sasol sijo, ossijo, and yon sijo. The themes of sijo
were not just focused on the upper class, it was expanded from different
metaphysical and cosmological themes.
Even classic sijo sticks closely to the syllabic pattern, it doesn’t only count
syllables, but it is more phrasal or musical than syllabic. It has a “twist”, a
surprise meaning that can be found in the poem. It was embodied with sound, tone
and different literary techniques. Most of the Sijos are subjective and personal. It
answers questions raised on the previous lines.
Sijo is believed to have a strong foundation and has a short but profound
structure. Sijo are not just limited in using figures of speech, metaphysical and
astronomical themes had been explored. Based on its history, Sijo is originally a
song. Since it was lyrical, it became popular in the royal courts and began to use
by the Yangban (upper class). They’ve used Sijo to express religious and
philosophy.
During the 20th century Sijo was translated into English language and
became popular to the western world. In the west, the sijo are often appears as a
six-line poem- each of the three lines are broken in half, with each couplet
separated by a blank line to emphasize distinctiveness. The pause between the line
often enhances variations transpiring in the poem. The 6-line format is only a
Western Development. Therefore, Sijo are being modernized and reformed in
different country.

EL 112 l Survey of Afro- Asian Literature

 Sijo is unique because of its basic structure, rhythmic elements and the
twist. It is more lyrical, personal, and subjective than haiku. Haiku and Tanka is
an unrhymed poetry. Sijo uses more metaphorical language and expression of
emotion than haiku. It also covers broader subjects such as politics, life, love,
nature, loneliness, and anything that involves life. It can be sung through the
accompaniment of instrument such as drum.
According to some literary critics, “There is nothing in English poetry
remotely like the Sijo. Usually the verses are in simple vernacular, most often
natured- based, which comment on the typical joys, trials and sorrows of the
people. A sijo is clearly stated and easily understood.” This only means that sijo
uses simple language and directly presented the ideas devoicing elaboration.
According to a recent article in The Boston Globe, another poetic
form seeks the attention of contemporary American poets, readers, and
educators. The Korean 'sijo' (not 'sinjo') resembles Japanese haiku in having a
strong foundation in nature in a short profound structure. Bucolic, metaphysical
and astronomical themes are often explored. The lines average 14-16 syllables,
for a total of 44-46. There is a pause in the middle of each line, so in English they
are sometimes printed in six lines instead of three. Most poets follow these
guidelines very closely although there are longer examples.

Ancient than haiku, the Korean SIJO shares a common ancestry with
haiku, and similar Japanese genres. All evolved from more ancient Chinese
patterns. Sijo is traditionally composed in three lines of 14-16 syllables each,
totaling between 44-46 syllables. A pause breaks each line approximately in the
middle; it resembles a caesura but is not based on metrics.

My body, in its withering, may become a lovely swallow.

Under the eaves of my loved one's home I'll build my nest of twigs.
After dusk I'll fly aloft and glide gently to his side.

. . . Anonymous

Each half-line contains 6-9 syllables; the last half of the final line is often
shorter than the rest but should contain no fewer than 5. The sijo may be narrative
or thematic, introducing a situation or problem in line 1, development or "turn" in
line 2, and resolution in line 3. The first half of the final line employs a "twist": a
surprise of meaning, sound, tone or another device.

Printing restrictions often cause Western sijo to be divided at the natural

break and printed in 6 lines. Some translators and poets have adopted this
technique, so modern sijo may appear in either 3 or 6 lines:

Under our oak the grass withers,

so we plant petunias;

EL 112 l Survey of Afro- Asian Literature

 We water them, we coddle them,
burn their youth with chemicals.
Digesting their timely death,
the oak renews our summer shade.

Because it was meant to be sung, and because of the nature Hangul (the
Korean script), the structure of sijo often resembles biblical phrases. In English, it
may resemble Hopkins' sprung rhythm. To achieve this phrasal quality, each long
line, once divided, is divided again, into quarters averaging 3 - 5 syllables, as
indicated by the slashes:

Without the pines / the wind is silent;

without wind / the pines are still;
Without you / my heart is voiceless,
without that voice / my heart is dead.
What potent power / of yang and yin
pairs us / before we sleep?

Though quarter lines are seldom divided so obviously, a discernible (even

if slight) pause is usually evident. Sijo may be highly repetitive. Phrases may be
repeated or echoed, a trait revealing the sijo's heritage to be sung or chanted.
Meter is not vital, but that musical link should not be overlooked.

The 6-line form was preferred by William Kim (Unsong) in his translation
of 100 classical sijo (Poet, An International Monthly, March 1986). Kim
experimentally employed end rhyme and broke the verse into three separate
couplets, two conventions not usually used by other translators. Take care in using
such devices. They can result in a poem that looks, sounds and acts so Western
that it obscures its unique heritage. They have written both 3-line and 6-line
patterns, but usually prefer the former when format allows. Poets are always free
to make choices, but Elizabeth St Jacques, a leader in the sijo movement, offers
good advice: never lose sight of the three characteristics that make sijo unique:
basic structure, musical/rhythmic elements, and the twist.

Japanese Haiku

Chinese Haiku is only an imitation of Japanese haiku. After the May

Fourth Movement in 1919, some poets like Yu Pingbo advocated that Chinese
should learn the style of Japanese Haiku. Chinese planned to adopt the tone and
intonation of haiku. In 1920’s, there was a short poem wave in China. Some
Chines poets were influenced by Japanese haiku. After Japanese invaded China,
anything related to Japan couldn’t be displayed. Chinese haiku was created by
Zhao Puchu who then served as vice-president of China Japan Friendship
Association.

EL 112 l Survey of Afro- Asian Literature

 While haiku was emerged in Japanese literature during the 17th century,
as a terse reaction to elaborate poetic traditions, though it did not become known
by the name haiku until the 19th century. The term haiku is derived from the first
element of the word haikai (a humorous form of renga or linked-verse poem) and
the second element of the word hokku. Today the term haiku is used to describe
all poems that use the three-line 17-syllable structure, even the earlier hokku.
Traditionally, Haiku was inspired by the nature such as the season. But
during the Takugawa period Great Basho elevated the Hokku into a more artistic
and refined poetry. He began to create new styles and eventually applied it to his
Haiku. After Basho there are a lot of poets who created different styles of Haiku.
As time goes by, due to its popularity Haiku could translate to several languages
or it could be written into any language.
The sijo’s form compresses the rhetorical features of the Classical Chinese
quatrain—presentation, development, then a twist, and a conclusion or resolution
—into three lines, toward something like the brevity of the Japanese haiku. Each
line of the sijo is in two parts, each part in turn being a two-part phrase or clause.
Syllable count is a significant feature of the sijo: 3 4 3 (or 4) 4 syllables for the
four parts in lines one and two, and then 3 5 4 3 in the final line. Syllable count is
not as strict as in the Japanese haiku, which tends pretty much toward seventeen
syllables, nor the unvarying five- or seven-syllable lines of Chinese classical
poetry. Yet while there is some range in syllable counts.

Haiku is the ancient Japanese art of poetry characterized by its short pattern,

nature-based themes, that shares an observation of a fleeting moment in time.

There are many forms of haiku, however the most common uses three (or fewer)
lines of no more than 17 syllables in total. Japanese haiku are traditionally printed
in one vertical line, though in handwritten form they may be in any reasonable
number of lines.

Chinese Haiku

Haiku is an imitation of Japanese Haiku. After May Fourth Movement( 五

四 運 動 ) in 1919,some poets like Yu Pingbo ( 俞 平 伯 ) advocated that chinese
should learn the style of Japanese haiku, which emphasizes tone and intonation
not the length of a poetry. At the first, this poetic aesthetic didn’t become a
mainstream and had few followers. However in 1920’s ,there was a
short poem wave(短詩熱潮) in China. Some poets were influenced by Japanese
haiku,writing short poems to capture momentary feeling and emotion, but they
weren’t Chinese haiku (漢俳).

EL 112 l Survey of Afro- Asian Literature

 Soon after, Japanese invaded China and Second Sino-Japanese War broke
that resulted in strong anti-Japanese sentiment in China. In this circumstance,
anything related to Japan couldn’t be a fashion.

It was not until the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations in 1980 that

there were more and more exchange between both countries’ scholars and poets
and the first set of Chinese haiku ( 漢俳) in chinese poem history was created
by Zhao Puchu( 趙 樸 初 ) who then served as vice-president of China-Japan
Friendship Association.

Neither Haiku or Sijo or Chines Haiku rely on end rhymes or a set meter

for their effect. Second, these three poem are often used to convey emotion.
Third, they often have longing or a love of nature as themes.

A main difference, however, is that haiku is a very formal, rigidly

proscribed poetic form. It must be exactly seventeen syllables (at least in the
English haiku tradition—Japanese haiku can have different forms). While it has
no set meter, it does require five syllables in the first line, seven in the second,
and five in the third. Also, unlike others, they can be fully narrative—it can allow
the poet to tell a long story. Further, some poems can be mistaken for prose, but
haiku is always recognizably haiku.

The concision required by haiku forces the poet to concentrate on one

point and remove all that is extraneous, which can lead to poems of strong
emotional impact. Other poms, by liberating the poet from any artificial
constraints of rhyme or meter, can also, albeit through opposite means (lack of
rigid structure), allow the poet the opportunity to write poems of great impact.

Many points in this comparative analysis are of particular interest.  One is

the way that the sijo is clearly being proposed as an alternative to the Japanese
haiku.  The two forms are considered similar, but also significantly different.  As
this article states, “With its three lines, sijo resembles haiku, but the sijo poet has
more room to develop a theme, narrative, or image before twisting and resolving
it in the final line.”  One scholar note, “Sijo is much more flexible than haiku….
If you have 15 syllables per line, that’s much more than the haiku.” 

What’s problematic about this article, however, is that it seems to imply

that the twist is a feature of sijo more than it is of haiku.  Largely, this implication
is a result of the way this article characterizes haiku: as merely a “three-line, 17-
syllable” form, without any reference to any kind of structural development (i.e., a
twist or turn…).  And this characterization seems to result from the ways haiku
are more largely considered: as primarily a form consisting of three lines of 5-7-5
syllables.  (…A characterization which itself likely (at least in part) results from a
general, pervasive tendency to focus on form rather than structure in poetry.)

EL 112 l Survey of Afro- Asian Literature

 The sijo is often more lyrical, subjective and personal than haiku, and the
final line can take a profound, witty, humorous or proverbial turn. Like haiku, sijo
has a strong basis in nature, but, unlike that genre, it frequently employs
metaphors, symbols, puns, allusions and similar word play.

II. EXAMPLES

SIJO
You ask how many friends I have? Water and stone, bamboo and pine.
The moon rising over the eastern hill is a joyful comrade.
Besides these five companions, what other pleasure should I ask?
- Yun Seondo
HAIKU
the first cold shower;
even the monkey seems to want
a little coat of straw.
- Anonymous

CHINESE HAIKU
上憶土岐翁/囊書相贈許相從/遺愛綠蔭濃
幽谷發蘭馨/上有黃鸝深樹鳴/喜氣迓俳人
綠蔭今雨來/山花枝接海花開/和風起漢俳
Translation: The valley is faint, and the yellow tree is deep, and the tree is happy.
Green shade today rains/ mountain flowers and see flowers bloom.
- Anonymous

III. THEME
The three poems coming from the 3 different country are similar because these
three poems focus on the wonders of nature and the changing seasons.
IV. TONE
The tone of the poem is cheerful because of the line above “tree is happy”. The poem
used Chinese characters.
V. IMAGERY
The three poems are similar because they deal with themes of nature and the
changing seasons, and poets of the three poems use imagery to reveal truths about
nature itself.
VI. LANGUAGE
VII. CONCLUSION

We must remember that it is essential relationships, not any entities or

external forms or decorations that are really poetic; all the clouds and flowers and
Love and beauty and rhyme and metre and similes and alliteration that ever

EL 112 l Survey of Afro- Asian Literature

 existed—not to mention all the logic and unity and morality—are not, in
themselves, enough to make one little poem.
VIII. References

 Carpio, R.C. (2006). Crisscrossing through Afro-Asian Literature. Anvil

Publishing, Inc.: Pasig City, Philippines.
 McCann, David R. Early Korean Literature: Selections and introductions, New
York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
 http://www.sup.org/books /title/?id=2910

EL 112 l Survey of Afro- Asian Literature