Thursday, October 8, 2015

1. Discuss Japanese poetry and the haiku.

HAIKU

A haiku is a Japanese poem traditionally written vertically and composed of three unrhymed parts of five, seven, and five morae, often containing a season or nature word. The essence of the haiku is “cutting,” represented by the juxtaposition of two images or ideas and a “cutting word” between them. English versions are usually composed of three lines of five, seven, and five syllables.  Possibly the best-known example follows:

by MATSUO BASHO

An old silent pond...

A frog jumps into the pond,

splash! Silence again.

Basho was not totally constrained by the 5-7-5 pattern as shown by the following:

the first cold shower

even the monkey seems to want

a little coat of straw

or

the wind of Mt. Fuji

I've brought on my fan!

a gift from Edo

However, remember that the Japanese originals were not based upon syllables, but on morae, or sounds

2. Write two haiku.