My quoted haiku and picture by Basho – Wikipedia “Haiku” (public domain image)

(16) HAIKU – MATSUO BASHO

“Quietly, quietly,

Yellow mountain roses fall –

Sound of the rapids“

You all know haiku – “a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan” consisting of three phrases composed of 17 syllables in a 5, 7, 5 pattern “that include a kireji, or “cutting word”; and a kigo, or seasonal reference” (or more broadly natural reference).

The classical Japanese poet for haiku was Matsuo Basho, albeit he would sometimes deviate from the traditional pattern.

Upon looking up haiku, I was intrigued to learn that “similar poems that do not adhere to these rules are generally classified as senryu”, that “haiku originated as an opening part of a larger Japanese genre of poetry called renga” (as opening stanzas known as hokku before they came to be written as stand-alone poems), and that “haiku was given its current name by the Japanese writer Masaoka Shiki at the end of the 19th century”.

Haiku now are written worldwide, albeit “with different styles and traditions while still incorporating aspects of the traditional haiku form” and “non-Japanese language haiku vary widely on how closely they follow traditional elements”.

Interestingly, Japanese haiku “are traditionally printed as a single line, while haiku in English often appear as three lines”

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)