Haiku, Japanese form Options

[Cleo_Serapis]

Haiku is one of the most important forms of traditional Japanese poetry. Haiku is, today, a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively.

Haiku (in English) usually appears as an unrhymed three-line verse. It should balance intense, fragmentary imagery with stress on rhythm and sound. Though it can be presented in three lines, a haiku structurally consists of two parts with a pause in between. The power behind it derives from the juxtaposition of the two images and the sense of surprise or revelation that the second image produces. A good haiku is like a good joke: the set-up, then the punch line.

In the broadest sense,Haiku is about Nature. In Japan, most haiku have a season word (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, New Years) that links the poem with the vast, archetypal round of the Year of Life. Today, in place of the season word, some contemporary haiku poets use keywords that express common themes of human experience (for example, "mother"). This, however, is a matter of controversy in modern haiku.

Some examples of tradition Haiku are listed below by Japanese Poet, Kobayashi Issa for you to enjoy.

in falling rain
one man remains...
blossom shade

the cherry blossoms
that stirred me, shade me
no more

through falling snow
a spring breeze
blows

have you come
to save us haiku poets?
red dragonfly



Please feel free to add to this thread your own haiku..
Mosaic Musings Staff