Unlike the visual arts, which were transmitted to the West quite quickly, the literary arts of Japan took much longer to get through. It has not been much more than a century since the first translations began to be made, and understanding has come slowly. This is especially true of poetry, where the distinction between different forms was not at first perceived.
An awareness of brevity fed into the reforms of the Imagist movement quite early on. Postwar interest in Zen has since profoundly affected the widespread "haiku movement" overseas, as serious practitioners will readily avow. Yet poets outside of this movement still make their own responses in a variety of ways. There is, too, the different flavor that each country brings to the process of adaptation.
Paul Muldoon (born 1951) and Derek Mahon (born 1941) are two of the most distinguished contemporary Irish poets. Both work mainly in traditional forms, which they have sometimes stretched to suit their own requirements. Both come originally from the north of Ireland, but are widely read and traveled. Muldoon has now settled permanently in the United States.