Haiku

[wildsweetone]

in my recent rambles with pen and paper i've been learning how to write Haiku. there's more rules with this little gem of a form than any of that other stuff you form poets are busy protecting. well, it sure seems that way at the moment. lol

anyhow... with all the 'rules', the dos and the don'ts, there still seems to be a chasm between what is, and the personal preference of readers.

from what i've read, there seem to be many variations of writing ku from the basic 5-7-5, to the what you see is what you get kind of idea (forgive me Basho and others - yes my reading is still in embryo form as yet), through the comparison, contrast and association ideas, beyond the pun, the riddle, the metaphor, the double entendre, Etc. etc. (to miss-borrow an SJ trademark ) right through to the leap Ah-ha! ku. there are more variations than the few i've mentioned here - i don't want to bore anyone.

so, what i'd like to know is...

what do you prefer to see/feel/understand when you read a Haiku?

what is your favourite Haiku? (please post one that has not been posted before so there will be a few different ku to look at.




(edited to add jthserra's essays on Haiku as this will help make it easier to find them)

jthserra's (submission page) Haiku essays and found them an excellent starter kit.

What is Haiku?

What is Senryu?

What is Zappai?

Not Seventeen - More on Haiku

More on Haiku - Nature and Kigo

More on Haiku - Kireji

More on Haiku - Anthropomorphism and Suchness

Erotic Haiku

(I have not included book suggestions or reviews)


~~~
i had cause to sort out my own thoughts to help another recently. here they are...

these are my thoughts that i've picked up over the last few months of reading and learning. i may be wrong with some of them, but they are the guidelines i use.


Basically
-Haiku contains comparison, or contrast, or association.
-Observe a facet of nature, combine it with another image so a third image is formed in the reader's mind.

So,
yes:
1. haiku is based on one moment in nature
2. haiku written in japanese has 5-7-5 syllables, in english the general rule is to aim for less than 17 syllables.
3. haiku has a positive outlook (in the traditional form - more modern ku are allowing unusual haiku i.e. darker works.)


and,
no:
1. do not include human thoughts or emotions, or any words that need a human thought process to understand the concept. i.e. no human abstract ideas like 'paradise'.
2. do not include similar words i.e. frozen, frosted. - it's a waste of one word that could be put to better use. and also it is a double up on a kigo.
3. don't end with a verb.
4. don't include conjecture i.e. enjoying.
5. check adjectives are sense known, not intellectually known.

as for punctuation, and titles...
i do not capitalise anything, i do not include periods. i try to include kireji (a break). i do include a title for submission sake but it is taken directly from the haiku. i think traditionally haiku had no titles, but the anthology i have been reading has titles for Basho and his followers' ku. so i suggest if you have one, you take it from your haiku to be on the safe side.

grammar you'll pick up along the way with more reading.
if you're serious about learning the form, i suggest you read jthserra's essays on Haiku for your initial stop, and then hunt out reputable haiku sites online and books in your local library.



...i don't think it's a completely bad thing to begin writing haiku by using the 5-7-5 form. it is somewhere to start. you learn to minimise your words needed to convey specific images. but by refining the form further, you learn how to go that extra step and create special poetry.


keep writing and enjoy yourself

 

[My Erotic Trail]

my favorite? hummm!


I saw the Moon
.........in a dew drop
hanging from a Crane's bill

ogden 1400's

 

[Rybka]

WSO, you might start by reading jthserra's "How To" series on Haiku and related forms of poetry. Jim is one of Literotica's more knowledgeable poets and one of its best practioners of the artform.

His Lit. home page is: jthserra

and the first in the "How To" series is: What is Haiku?

You can find the others in the series from Jim's homepage.

 

[My Erotic Trail]

WSO, you might start by reading jthserra's "How To" series on Haiku and related forms of poetry. Jim is one of Literotica's more knowledgeable poets and one of its best practioners of the artform.

His Lit. home page is: jthserra

and the first in the "How To" series is: What is Haiku?

You can find the others in the series from Jim's homepage.

I sent her the link earlier and ...now she is gone <grin The Haiku has her.

 

[WickedEve]

WSO, you might start by reading jthserra's "How To" series on Haiku and related forms of poetry. Jim is one of Literotica's more knowledgeable poets and one of its best practioners of the artform.

His Lit. home page is: jthserra

and the first in the "How To" series is: What is Haiku?

You can find the others in the series from Jim's homepage.

I just read Jim's What is Haiku. I remember reading it a long time ago. I'm ready to attempt Haiku again. I'm just waiting for inspiration.

 

[wildsweetone]

thanks Rybka, i've read all jim's essays and been working with them (and other information) for the last little while, that's how i've managed to get this far.

Eve, take a look around you, there's inspiration at every level on every surface *smile* at least that's the way it's been for me recently.

you didn't say, what's your favourite Haiku? and what do you prefer to see when you read one?

Art, what's your preference, your 'preferred expectation' when you read a Haiku?

 

[Rybka]

thanks Rybka, i've read all jim's essays and been working with them (and other information) for the last little while, that's how i've managed to get this far.
. . .
you didn't say, what's your favourite Haiku? and what do you prefer to see when you read one?
. . .

You might read "Rainbow Haiku" in my sig. lines. It follows the 5-7-5 form (which is not mandatory); hints at a season and nature; has a break in thought between the first two lines and the last one; and even has a rhyming couplet. Its weakness is that it needs the title for full enlightenment of meaning, and a traditional haiku is not titled.
It had all "5"s and one "4" until it hit 10 votes and got "1" bombed.

 

[anniebug's man]

Being in danger of repeating myself, I have always thought the haiku a conversational form of poetry. It would be conceived in the moment in which two or more people experienced that moment and wanted to capture it's essence. Often it would be played as a game between two participants besting each other.

It is a very social form of poetry. And the great eastern counterpoint to western approaches to poetry.

crushed ice in your mouth
peach fuzzy lollipop end
a quickie fun fare

 

[goldustwoman]

May I?

Hi. I'm just browsing around and saw your thread. I clicked the link "What is Haiku" and found it very interesting. I always thought Haiku had to be 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the last.

I found this to be very enjoyable.
The old pond --
a frog jumps in,
the sound of water

I didn't think I'd be drawn into a poem any shorter than the Japanese form Haiku. The little poem above reminds me of when I was a young girl living out in the country by a small lake, and watching or hearing the frogs jump and plop in the water. You could hear them in the summer with your window open as you tried to sleep, or right when you woke up in the morning. It made me smile. I felt eight years old again when I read the above poem from the link. Too bad it only lasted a short time.

I'll have to go search for one of my favorites.

 

[wildsweetone]

You might read "Rainbow Haiku" in my sig. lines. It follows the 5-7-5 form (which is not mandatory); hints at a season and nature; has a break in thought between the first two lines and the last one; and even has a rhyming couplet. Its weakness is that it needs the title for full enlightenment of meaning, and a traditional haiku is not titled.
It had all "5"s and one "4" until it hit 10 votes and got "1" bombed.

i love it for its possibilities and it only needs a little rewording to lose the title and the reference to God. one needs to use ones intellect to equate the presence of God as he/she is not a specific concrete object in him/herself. - my opinion. we can find God's presence all around us, but we cannot touch him per se. make sense?

i'd take out the word 'just' - it looks like it's been added in to help keep the 5-7-5 count, it's not needed to make your Haiku make sense. and as i think about it the word 'just' itself is a word that needs intellect to make it work. it is not a noun or verb.

but then, this could be a version of Modern Haiku and i have yet to learn about modern versions.

 

[flyguy69]

Hi. I'm just browsing around and saw your thread. I clicked the link "What is Haiku" and found it very interesting. I always thought Haiku had to be 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the last.

I found this to be very enjoyable.
The old pond --
a frog jumps in,
the sound of water

I didn't think I'd be drawn into a poem any shorter than the Japanese form Haiku. The little poem above reminds me of when I was a young girl living out in the country by a small lake, and watching or hearing the frogs jump and plop in the water. You could hear them in the summer with your window open as you tried to sleep, or right when you woke up in the morning. It made me smile. I felt eight years old again when I read the above poem from the link. Too bad it only lasted a short time.

I'll have to go search for one of my favorites.

That is, of course, the most famous haiku in history.

 

[goldustwoman]

That is, of course, the most famous haiku in history.

Was I supposed to know that?

 

[wildsweetone]

Being in danger of repeating myself, I have always thought the haiku a conversational form of poetry. It would be conceived in the moment in which two or more people experienced that moment and wanted to capture it's essence. Often it would be played as a game between two participants besting each other.

It is a very social form of poetry. And the great eastern counterpoint to western approaches to poetry.

crushed ice in your mouth
peach fuzzy lollipop end
a quickie fun fare

i never thought of Haiku as a social experience of humans before... oh, i've just had a thought, i think those kinds of poems are called Senryu. Haiku relate to nature and Senryu relate to human nature.

 

[wildsweetone]

Hi. I'm just browsing around and saw your thread. I clicked the link "What is Haiku" and found it very interesting. I always thought Haiku had to be 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the last.

I found this to be very enjoyable.
The old pond --
a frog jumps in,
the sound of water

I didn't think I'd be drawn into a poem any shorter than the Japanese form Haiku. The little poem above reminds me of when I was a young girl living out in the country by a small lake, and watching or hearing the frogs jump and plop in the water. You could hear them in the summer with your window open as you tried to sleep, or right when you woke up in the morning. It made me smile. I felt eight years old again when I read the above poem from the link. Too bad it only lasted a short time.

I'll have to go search for one of my favorites.

Hi goldustwoman and welcome to the Poetry Forum! i'm glad you browsed!

i love the memory Basho's poem conjured for you!

i don't have a clue if there are any poetry forms containing less words than the Haiku. i may look into that later.

 

[wildsweetone]

Was I supposed to know that?

nope, but it's way cool that you do now.

i wonder if anyone will come and contest it's fame.

 

[TheRainMan]

i wonder if anyone will come and contest it's fame.

i thought this one was the most famous . . .

winter
snow on the branch
the cat sleeps

. . . i could be wrong, though.

 

[goldustwoman]

Hi goldustwoman and welcome to the Poetry Forum! i'm glad you browsed!

i love the memory Basho's poem conjured for you!

i don't have a clue if there are any poetry forms containing less words than the Haiku. i may look into that later.

Thanks for the welcome.

I have many pages up that interest me about Haiku. It's strange though. I'm wondering why everything says it should be 17 syllables. I'm not allowed to post any links, am I?

 

[wildsweetone]

Rainman, would you believe i just had a 'oh wow that's really neat! wonder who wrote that!' moment? *blushing*

anybody'd think you understood it.

and, you didn't answer the questions.

 

[flyguy69]

Was I supposed to know that?

No, only to appreciate your excellent taste!

 

[TheRainMan]

Rainman, would you believe i just had a 'oh wow that's really neat! wonder who wrote that!' moment? *blushing*

anybody'd think you understood it.

and, you didn't answer the questions.

...umm, what questions?

 

[wildsweetone]

Thanks for the welcome.

I have many pages up that interest me about Haiku. It's strange though. I'm wondering why everything says it should be 17 syllables. I'm not allowed to post any links, am I?

post away links all you like. so long as you're not selling anything it's okay - i think.

 

[flyguy69]

post away links all you like. so long as you're not selling anything it's okay - i think.

Even then, it's ok until you're caught!

 

[wildsweetone]

...umm, what questions?

nevermind, i forget. it's too darn humid to think straight.

oh the questions in the first post.

like what's your favourite haiku? and what do you expect to see when you go to read a haiku?

just those two little bitty questions. answer them, it'll be like picking strawberries, i promise.

 

[wildsweetone]

Even then, it's ok until you're caught!

granted.

 

[Tzara]

i thought this one was the most famous . . .

winter
snow on the branch
the cat sleeps

. . . i could be wrong, though.

Isn't that one by Washō (also known as Wsō), that disciple of Matsuo Bashō who migrated to the southern reaches of the Japanese Empire?