Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Haiku.

I was browsing a local message board when I found a thread about Haiku. Here is a definition for those not familiar: Haiku is one of the most important form of traditional japanese poetry. Haiku is, today, a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.
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To write Haiku:

What to write about?
Haiku-poems can describe almost anything, but you seldom find themes which are too complicated for normal PEOPLE's recognition and understanding. Some of the most thrilling Haiku-poems describe daily situations in a way that gives the reader a brand new experience of a well-known situation.

The metrical pattern of Haiku
Haiku-poems consist of respectively 5, 7 and 5 syllables in three units. In japanese, this convention is a must, but in english, which has variation in the length of syllables, this can sometimes be difficult.

The technique of cutting
The cutting divides the Haiku into two parts, with a certain imaginative distance between the two sections, but the two sections must remain, to a degree, independent of each other. Both sections must enrich the understanding of the other.
To make this cutting in english, either the first or the second line ends normally with a colon, long dash or ellipsis.

The seasonal theme.
Each Haiku must contain a kigo, a season word, which indicate in which season the Haiku is set. For example, cherry blossoms indicate spring, snow indicate winter, and mosquitoes indicate summer, but the season word isn't always that obvious.
Please notice that Haiku-poems are written under different rules and in many languages. For translated Haiku-poems, the translator must decide whether he should obey the rules strictly, or if he should present the exact essence of the Haiku. For Haiku-poems originally written in english, the poet should be more careful. These are the difficulties, and the pleasure of Haiku.
Definition courtesy: http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/#whatishaiku

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Here are a couple that I've written:

Christmas is coming;
Credit card debt, vicious crowds
And kids thank Santa.

~~~~~~~

Rose red in my vase
It's dead in less than a week;
Beauty has it's price.

~~~~~~~

Dirty faces and
Loud noises which wake me up;
Beautiful angels.

~~~~~~~

Now, let's see what you've got!

2 comments:

samar said...

Rose red in my vase
Its dead in less tan a week,
beauty has its price.

Rose red in body vase
Its dead in 'less than more'
Beauty has no price.

samar said...

Sat Sri Akaal!


Rose red in body vase
Its dead in 'less then more'
Beauty price we pay.