Haiku, Hokku, and Senryu
When I was in elementary school, we finger painted and wrote haiku to accompany our works. Back then the only rule was 5-7-5. 5 syllables for the first line, 7 for the next, and 5 for the last. It wasn't that hard and it was a neat way to teach us about syllables.this is a haiku
written just for this blog post
too bad it's so plain
written just for this blog post
too bad it's so plain
See how simple that is?
Well recently I started to research about haiku in more detail and I was intrigued. There's more to Japanese haiku than 5-7-5. In fact one important part is the need to use a "kigo", a word or phrase that elicits feelings of a particular season. It could be very direct and explicit like "winter", referring to the season of winter, or something as subtle as "Milky Way", referring to the season of fall (night sky objects (like the moon) are most clear and visible during the fall). Without kigo, your haiku is little more than hokku!
Then I read about another 5-7-5 type of Japanese poem that isn't really a haiku because it doesn't refer to seasons. Instead, it features satire and wit. Introducing the wise-cracking little step-sister to haiku, senryu.
A great example:
泥棒を dorobō wo
捕えてみれば toraete mireba
我が子なり wagako nari
Translated to English:
the fleeing robber,
when I catch him, who is it?
my very own son
Another great one, that reminds me of a Jack Handy quote:
Translated to English:
Have you written any haiku, senryu, poems, or ciphers recently?
when I catch him, who is it?
my very own son
Another great one, that reminds me of a Jack Handy quote:
かくれんぼ kakurenbo
三つ数えて mittsu kazoete
冬になる fuyu ni naru
三つ数えて mittsu kazoete
冬になる fuyu ni naru
Translated to English:
spring: hide and go seek
struggling to count up to 3
too slow! winter came
struggling to count up to 3
too slow! winter came
Have you written any haiku, senryu, poems, or ciphers recently?
posted by Blight @ 10:21 PM
9 Comments:
Can't say that I've attempted poety of any sort lately but I do like what you have shown us here.
an intriguing thought
like an autumn breeze through leaves
a creative force
early morning light
how we missed your sweet caress
so glad spring is back
through puddles of spring
we stride childlike and thoughtful
missing youth gone by
the first line has five
and the next line has seven
one more five: HAIKU
I was going to write one that started with 'Blight smells like poo', but I couldn't think of anything to rhyme with poo.
haikus don't rhyme, man
did you even read my post?
likewise you fail it
I was never good at poetry. I vaguely remember having to do them in high school. Of course that was 28 years ago. Funny....I've never had to work with it in my working life....
Always been more of a limerick guy myself.
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