"Seventeen Syllables"

Seventeen Syllables

Hisaye Yamamoto

            “See, Rosie, she said, it was a haiku, a poem in which she must pack all her meaning into seventeen syllables only, which were divided into three lines of five, seven, and five syllables. In the one she had just read, she had tried to capture the charm of a kitten, as well as comment on the superstition that owning a cat of three colors meant good luck” (21).

           

 

            This passage is important because Rosie’s mother is explaining the significance of a haiku poem. Haiku poems are important to the meaning of this story because poets have to purposefully choose their words. They have only seventeen syllables to convey a meaning to a poem. As a result, there is a lot of information that the poets are forced to either neglect or sublimely imply to the reader. The poet must be confident that the reader will understand the subtext. In Mrs. Hayashi’s haiku, she wants the reader to understand both the kitten’s charm and the superstition that multi colored cats are good luck.

            Similarly, Rosie’s mother, Mrs. Hayashi, wants Rosie to look at everything on the surface level for the basic interpretation, and on a deeper level for the deeper meaning. Rosie views everything as it is- “comme il faut.” This phrase literally translates as “like it is necessary” but it is commonly translated as “correct in behavior.” Rosie looks at everything from innocent childhood eyes in a sense. However, her mother teaches Rosie to appreciate the form of the haiku poem. It is important to look at the underlying meaning of things.

When her mother begins writing her poetry, Rosie starts to notice a change in her dad’s behaviors. She never explicitly states why her dad is behaving this way. In a way, this narrative resembles a haiku because the narrator is limited in scope of what she can say. Rosie doesn’t truly understand why her dad is behaving this way. She sees the first outburst at their friends’ house when Mrs. Hayashi is writing poetry with her friends. Her father violently reacts a second time when his wife wins a prize for her writing. Rosie doesn’t understand why her father hates her mother’s writing. At the end of the story, Rosie and the reader realize that the marriage was arranged. Once Rosie learns that her father and mother were arranged to be married years ago, the reader is left to discern deeper understandings. The reader now understands that Rosie’s father doesn’t want his wife to be writing poetry because she will learn to express herself and tell her story. The reader is expected to treat this narrative as a haiku and discern the deeper meaning.