sjrozan

JL asks about haiku, whether in Japanese it's characters as opposed to syllables. Thought this was interesting enough to do a post on.

It's syllables in Japanese, too. The rules for haiku as an independent form were laid out in the late 1890's; it developed from a form in which an introductory 5-7-5 syllable verse, called hokku, set the tone for a connected cycle of poems. The rules are only 2 (and I've been known to break them). One, the poem must be in two "idea" sections, preferrably broken at the end of a line as opposed to the middle of one; that is, first line, then second and third, (Mallard vanguard's here...) or first and second, then third (In north-side tree pits...). Two, the poem must contain a word indicating the season. I often stretch this to mean "weather." And, as I say, I break both rules sometimes. For example:

2 ideas, but broken in middle of the third line:

Coconuts, grapefruits,
Flat-roofed bungalows, condos,
Highway. Endless sea.

No 'season' word:

Trucks: Airborne Express
Fed Ex, UPS, and mail.
So where's my teapot?

Single idea:

Black barge, red tug, red
cargo, yellow ferry, white
yacht, silver river.

In translating haiku, people usually opt for precision of meaning over perfection of form, which is why translations from the Japanese often have the wrong number of syllables in English.

sjrozan I'm a writer, at work on my 11th book. This blog is a record of random and less-random thoughts. If you want to know more about me, check my website, linked here. I also had a blog going from spring through late fall 2004 about the publishing process for my 9th book, ABSENT FRIENDS. That blog's called "Progress" and you can find the link here. I won't make any more entries but I'm leaving it up in case anyone's interested; the process is more or less the same from book to book.
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Previous Entry :: Next Entry Read/Post Comments (4)		2005-03-13 9:44 PM Haiku JL asks about haiku, whether in Japanese it's characters as opposed to syllables. Thought this was interesting enough to do a post on. It's syllables in Japanese, too. The rules for haiku as an independent form were laid out in the late 1890's; it developed from a form in which an introductory 5-7-5 syllable verse, called hokku, set the tone for a connected cycle of poems. The rules are only 2 (and I've been known to break them). One, the poem must be in two "idea" sections, preferrably broken at the end of a line as opposed to the middle of one; that is, first line, then second and third, (Mallard vanguard's here...) or first and second, then third (In north-side tree pits...). Two, the poem must contain a word indicating the season. I often stretch this to mean "weather." And, as I say, I break both rules sometimes. For example: 2 ideas, but broken in middle of the third line: Coconuts, grapefruits, Flat-roofed bungalows, condos, Highway. Endless sea. No 'season' word: Trucks: Airborne Express Fed Ex, UPS, and mail. So where's my teapot? Single idea: Black barge, red tug, red cargo, yellow ferry, white yacht, silver river. In translating haiku, people usually opt for precision of meaning over perfection of form, which is why translations from the Japanese often have the wrong number of syllables in English. Read/Post Comments (4) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top