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About Haiku:
Haiku This form of poetry originated in Japan during the 16th century, when poets collectively worked on non-rhyming poems (called haikai-rengas) by adding stanzas of 17 (three lines of five, seven, and five) syllables, or 14 (two lines of seven) syllables.
The word “haiku” comes from “hokku”, the first verse of a haikai-renga poem.
Here are the elements of a traditional haiku:
1. Structure: Three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables.
2. Absence of metaphor and does not use poetic devices such as metaphor.
3. All haiku is theme-specific, always referring to some aspect of nature such as a season, an animal, or the weather.
The goal of a Haiku is most commonly seen as an attempt to capture the beauty of a moment with vivid imagery.
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)
Haiku's first great poet was Basho Matsuo, who developed the contemplative nature that often characterizes haiku by basing his material on the writings of ancient philosophers, which contained certain elements and descriptions that were well suited to this short form of poetry.
Here are a few of his famous poems. Keep in mind that they don't translate exactly in the 5-7-5 syllable form, but that in Japanese they are 5-7-5.
on a barren branch
a raven has perched--
autumn dusk
or:
old pond...
a frog leaps in
water's sound
(Above translations by William J. Higginson.)
Westernized Haiku:
One of the problems with writing haiku and other Japanese form poetry (such as senryu and tanka) in English is that the flow of the English language is markedly different from that of Japanese.
Often the form doesn’t work nearly as well in English.
For this reason, in the 1970s many English-speaking poets began writing “free-form haiku” which does not rigidly follow the 5-7-5 rule, but still tries to follow the “inspired” and imagistic quality of the Japanese poetry, and also attempts to retain some of the techniques often used by the Japanese poets as well, such as sensory language or word play.
The lines of the poem must follow natural breaks in the language; in other words, a sentence should not be broken into two lines at an unnatural place – which is why English haikus often work better when they deviate from the strict Japanese form.
The following English haiku has seventeen syllables and uses visual imagery to describe natural objects.
moving into the sun
the pony takes with him
some mountain shadow
--Jane Reichhold, 1996
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Above translations of Matsuo Basho by William J. Higginson, from the book by William J. Higginson with Penny Harter, The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku, published by McGraw-Hill and Kodansha International, copyright © 1985 William J. Higginson, used by permisson of the translator.
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