What are the rules for the form of haiku poetry most commonly used and composed by English-speaking poets?
WRS
I always thought it was three lines, the first and last having the syllabic value of 5 and the middle of 7. Also, strictly speaking, they are supposed to be on natural themes.
But it’s more fun to make them on other things.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku:
Haiku is a very short poetic form: Traditional Japanese haiku consisted of three lines of 5, 7, and 5 units which generally corresponded to syllables. They also contained a special season word — the kigo — descriptive of the season in which the haiku was set. Some say that a haiku must also combine two different images, be written in present tense, have a focus on description and have a pause (the kireji or “cutting word”) at the end of either the first or second line. All such rules are based in the Japanese language and literary tradition and are habitually broken by most poets, especially when adapted for languages other than Japanese (where they can seem arbitrary).
Few modern English haiku poets use the 5-7-5 syllables rule, which is often taught in schools. The 5-7-5 practice produces a haiku much longer than a traditionally composed haiku in Japanese, as the Japanese do not count syllables as they are defined in English, but instead count morae (singular mora), or phonetic units of the language. Morae are generally shorter than the average of English syllables which are highly variable in length. Also contributing to the change in length is the fact that one character particles are used in Japanese grammar to designate parts of a sentence as well as possessives. While the former use is often left implicit in his compact form, the possessive marker “no” (の) can often be found even in haiku and counts as a mora even though it is not a word per se.
If written out in hiragana, the syllabic Japanese alphabet, each of these morae will be represented by exactly one character, and indeed haiku are often written out in hiragana for aesthetic reasons.
Today’s English-language poets produce haiku in one of three ways:
by using three (or fewer) lines of no more than 17 syllables in total;
by using the concept of metrical feet rather than syllables. A haiku then becomes three lines of 2, 3, and 2 metrical feet, with a break or pause after the second or fifth;
by using the “one deep breath” rule: take a deep breath and the reader should be able to read the haiku aloud without taking a second breath.
The haiku poet (haijin) writes about a moment in time, a brief experience that stands out. The traditional haiku poet usually focused on nature, although modern poets may have the urban setting as their venue. Often, at least in translation, the subject matter of many Japanese haiku may seem banal, but the subtle linkage or juxtaposition between the two sets of images within a haiku will be found to contain an interesting insight or spiritual message.
Learn the tune to “Moonlight in Vermont.”
If you can sing the poem to that tune, you’ve got it right.
Another good source of information and rules for haiku is HAIKU for PEOPLE . One I wrote a year ago that I think follows all of the rules is:
Season of rebirth
When we studied Haiku, we also had to rhyme the end words on each line. Many Haiku don’t rhyme because they are translations, they probably did rhyme in their original form. I’m not sure if that’s the “official” rules, or if our teacher was just particularily strict.
Zabali_Clawbane:
When we studied Haiku, we also had to rhyme the end words on each line. Many Haiku don’t rhyme because they are translations, they probably did rhyme in their original form. I’m not sure if that’s the “official” rules, or if our teacher was just particularily strict.
I’m not sure what your teacher was up to. Looking through my copy of The Essential Haiku, none of the haiku rhyme in Japanese. This isn’t surprising, as rhyming isn’t very common in Japan.
Five syllables, then
She was rather odd at times, generally she hated poetry that rhymed, she considered it cliche. Maybe she was just trying to challenge us, and was being flippant when she “explained” about why they didn’t rhyme in English?
I’ve said it before and I’ll bally well say it again:
To convey one’s mood
(John Cooper Clarke )
Hmm, I heard she retired, but I think she owned her house so maybe I can still ask her when I’m in the area again.