Haiku

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What is haiku

Haiku (俳句) (plural haiku) is a very short form of Japanese poetry in three phrases, typically characterized by three qualities:

  1. The essence of haiku is "cutting" (kiru).This is often represented by the juxtaposition of two images or ideas and a kireji ("cutting word") between them, a kind of verbal punctuation mark which signals the moment of separation and colours the manner in which the juxtaposed elements are related.
  2. Traditional haiku often consist of 17 on (also known as morae though often loosely translated as "syllables"), in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 on, respectively.
  3. A kigo (seasonal reference), usually drawn from a saijiki, an extensive but defined list of such terms.


Modern Japanese haiku (現代俳句 gendai-haiku) are said by some[4] to increasingly vary from the tradition of 17 on or taking nature as their subject. Despite the western influence, the use of juxtaposition continues to be honored in both traditional and modern haiku. There is a common, although relatively recent, perception that the images juxtaposed must be directly observed everyday objects or occurrences.

In Japanese, haiku are traditionally printed in a single vertical line while haiku in English often appear in three lines parallel to the three phrases of Japanese haiku.

Examples

The best-known Japanese haiku is Bashō's "old pond":

古池や蛙飛び込む水の音
ふるいけやかわずとびこむみずのおと (transliterated into 17 hiragana)
furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto (transliterated into rōmaji)


This separates into on as:
fu-ru-i-ke ya (5)
ka-wa-zu to-bi-ko-mu (7)
mi-zu-no-o-to (5)

Translated:

old pond
frog leaps in
water's sound


Another haiku by Bashō:

初しぐれ猿も小蓑をほしげ也
はつしぐれさるもこみのをほしげなり
hatsu shigure saru mo komino o hoshige nari


This separates into on as:
ha-tsu shi-gu-re (5)
sa-ru mo ko-mi-no o (7)
ho-shi-ge na-ri (5)

Translated:
the first cold shower
even the monkey seems to want
a little coat of straw


Mochimo haiku

Dictionary

Examples