Seeds From a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey [Paperback]

Clark Strand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 1998

A respected Zen Buddhist presents haiku--a seventeen-line poem arranged in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables--as a writing meditation and spiritual path which opens the reader to the experience of nature. Divided into three parts, the book follows the author's passage from haiku novice to a place of understanding haiku and himself.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Infused with hearty Zen wisdom and proceeding at a deliberately unhurried pace, Seeds from a Birch Tree attempts to make the poetry of nature into an easily accessible refuge from the fast pace of the technological world. Clark Strand, an English teacher who has lived as a Zen Buddhist monk, has written an engaging book that weaves personal memoir with poetry instruction. The book is well written if unusual, a happily meandering series of lessons that encourage the reader to appreciate how the writing and reading of haiku can become a very practical meditative process. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The subtle simplicity of haiku depends on the complex balance of structure, object, image, and impression. The 17-syllable poem combines two phrases, arranged in three lines; balanced by a pause that presents the picture of a seasonal object as it exists for the poet, the poem demands freshness and a total lack of pretension. To achieve such a response is an ongoing process, suggests Strand, a Zen Buddhist monk, senior editor of Tricycle, and founder of New York Haikukai. Writing haiku is a meditation for this process, a spiritual journey toward an understanding of the world and the poet's place in it. Strand maintains that progressing toward spirituality and writing haiku are interdependent and mutually beneficial. Libraries that need a basic introduction to haiku should turn to The Essential Haiku (LJ 6/1/94). Strand's slim volume focuses more on the struggle to maintain spiritual discipline.?Denise S. Sticha, Seton Hill Coll. Lib., Greensburg, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (July 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786883235
• ISBN-13: 978-0786883233
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,037,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars CLARK STRAND -- An American Haiku Master, August 6, 2000

By 

Ty Hadman (Puerto Eten, PERU) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seeds From a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey (Paperback)

Clark Strand is an American Haiku Master; he doesn't say so (no American does), but he is. Most of the haiku contained in the book were written by his disciples (he calls them his students). Anyone interested in becoming a serious haiku poet or who just wants to be able to write a few good haiku, will benefit from reading this book. The book is very straightforward and easy to understand. He offers the readers some good tips on how to get started and describes many deeply personal episodes of his own spiritual and haiku journey and development, which for Strand, often go hand in hand. He even makes fun of himself and describes personal failures, something most writers would never dare to do! A definite intimacy between writer and reader is established which is also rare.

It should however be said that Strand's approach to haiku is heavily influenced by his experiences and schooling in the teachings of Zen. It should also be mentioned that Strand belongs to the Shiki school that believes haiku are "sketches of life". This is one viewpoint; there are many other valid ones. Shiki stated that most of the haiku written by the painter Buson were excellent while most of the haiku written by the philosopher Basho were mediocre, but it appears that Strand parts paths with Shiki on this point. He likes Basho's approach as well and quotes his own Zen master's haiku in the book, a type of haiku much closer to the Basho school than to the type of haiku Buson and Shiki and their successors wrote.

My favorite example from Strand's book of the "sketch approach" is the following haiku by Ken Stec:

Oars flash in the sun: at the center of the lake two men cease to row

My favorite example from the book using the "philosophical approach" is the following haiku by Strand's Zen Master, Soen Roshi:

hana no yo no hana no yoh naru hito bakari

in a universe flowering with sentient beings each being flowering

Strand has a very disciplined approach and thus strongly defends the 5-7-5 syllable pattern in writing haiku in English. He makes some good arguments, but makes the serious mistake of comparing English language syllables with Japanese jion (sound beats) which are shorter in length. It has been proven that 17 jion are the equivalent in sound length to about 11-14 syllables in English. He also fails to mention that the Japanese use three words for punctuation: ya, kana, and keri instead of using the dash, comma, colon, semi-colon, exclamation mark, and ellipsis used in English. Comparing these two systems with one another is like comparing pineapples with pine trees.

Strand also fails to mention urban haiku for city-dwellers (he only includes a couple of mild examples in his book) and important issues such as the degradation of the environment. Today we have acid rain, polluted skies and seas, contaminated rivers and frog ponds, golf balls on the moon, disappearing rain forests, extinct and endangered plant and animal species, thousands of skin cancer cases due to the depleted ozone layer, etc. all of which most of us on this planet are deeply affected by today and are therefore legitimate topics for inclusion in haiku. The pristine beauty of the natural environment in the days of Basho passed long ago.

But these criticisms should not be overweighed; the book is a very enjoyable reading experience for anyone who is interested in haiku and/or Zen and includes four helpful exercises that anyone can easily try out as an experiment. For me, the book reaches a peak in about the middle. My favorite chapters are Cockscombs, Daisies, and Sound. These three chapters alone are worth the price of the book; they are priceless! Sound is only about a page long, but contains the key to writing really good haiku. Want to know what it is? Buy the book and find out!

But different parts of the book, fifty short chapters in all, will appeal to a wide range of people for different reasons. Clark Strand is a good teacher. He has a gentle and intimate approach and like all really great teachers, teaches from his own experiences and practices what he preaches. It is a bit curious that Strand has not come out with a book of his own haiku yet nor an anthology of his follower's haiku. I certainly hope that all of us won't have to wait too much longer. However, Seeds From a Birch Tree, a book long overdue, was well worth the wait.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for any haiku reader's book shelf!, July 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Seeds From a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey (Paperback)

This book has changed the way that I think about the reading and writing of haiku. I not only found it to be very informative and interesting, but also an inspiration to my own writing.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Brilliant, February 9, 2000

By 

"papierman" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seeds From a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey (Paperback)

Clark Strand's book on the history and technique of haiku is simply brilliant. In this book, Strand provides a great introduction to the art of haiku. Like haiku, this book is short and full of information.

Rather than provide a dry analytical discussion, Strand explains the ground rules and encourages the reader to try his/her hand at writing haikus. He also discusses how to turn haiku writing into an everyday spiritual practice.

My only complaint is that Strand did not include a larger number of classic haiku. But then again Strand never promised an anthology.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, especially a non-poet or non-writer, looking for a creative outlet or considering haiku. A better introduction cannot be found anywhere else.