reviewed by Charles Trumbull

This welcome historical compendium includes a 22-page essay by Tomaszewska, "Japanese Inspirations in European Culture and Art," and five pages of bibliography by way of introduction. Here we learn that haiku proper did not get established in Poland until about 1979. This observation is born out in the body of the book, which is organized chronologically. In the first period, 1905–1979, we are treated to the writing of imagistic verses by a number of poets—including names such as Alexander Wat, Czeslaw Milosz, and Halina Poswiatowska—but nothing that much resembles haiku. Soon thereafter, however, under the influence of many translations of Japanese and Western haiku published by poets such as Andrzej Szuba and, later, Milosz, the form was taken up in earnest. Polish haiku often inclines toward the flowery and romantic. Here are two samples, one from Father Hieronim St. Kreis OSB (a monk and expert practitioner of ikebana) and, below it, one by Szuba:

The Poles are famed for their graphic arts, and this book can only enhance that reputation. The beautiful volume was designed by Lidia Rozmus and printed on heavy, good-quality paper.