Haiku? What's that?

Question

Give me an example.

Answer 1

A haiku is a japanese poem. The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7 syllables, and the last line has 5 syllables. An example is:
The snow falls softly (5)
There is whiteness all around (7)
Snow crunches below (5)

Many haikus are about seasons, nature, etc. The best part is, they don't have to rhyme!

Answer 2

WHAT HAIKU IS AND HOW TO WRITE THEM

Haikus are an ancient Japanese poem that use a certain number of syllables to create a picture or snapshot of nature.

Today, haikus no longer have to adhere to the 5-7-5-syllable rule. Their subject matter now is also beyond the range of the natural world. Modern haiku poets write about anything. The name for non-nature oriented haikus is senryu. Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about how to write them!

First, understand that you don't need to construct your haikus with strict adherence to a certain number of syllables. This is freeing in many ways. First off, your subject matter takes precedence over your syllable count. Have a word that just doesn't fit in with 5-7-5? No problem. Modern haikus allow for this. For example, look at this haiku poem by the author:

Atlantic sunset --
bands of orange light
touch the water

Here we have "sunset" as the subject of this poem. Strangely enough, the first line does have 5 syllables. Line two however breaks the 7 syllable rule and comes in at 5 syllables. Line 3 contains only 4. And here we have a complete haiku poem. So why is this acceptable? Because it uses many haiku techniques. One of these, perhaps the most important one is fragment and phrase theory.

The theory goes something like this. Haikus can contain a fragment and a phrase. In this example, line one is the fragment, lines 2 and 3 contain the phrase. The fragment sets the mood or ambiance of the poem while the phrase hones in on something very specific that is taking place in the present. Still, only a few words are used to "paint" this picture.

Here's another example:

So many shells
on the beach tonight...
ebb tide

In this haiku, we start out with the phase and end with the fragment. Completely acceptable and used frequently by modern haiku poets. You'll also notice that there is a "cut" or "break" between the fragment and the phrase. This "cut" helps the reader get the juxtaposition between the two parts of the poem. To write haikus your way, just think in terms of fragment and phrase and you can't go wrong!

Answer 3

What is Haiku?

Haiku is one of the most important form of traditional Japanese poetry. Haiku is, today, a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. Since early days, there has been confusion between the three related terms Haiku, Hokku and Haikai. The term hokku literally means "starting verse", and was the first starting link of a much longer chain of verses known as haika. Because the hokku set the tone for the rest of the poetic chain, it enjoyed a privileged position in haikai poetry, and it was not uncommon for a poet to compose a hokku by itself without following up with the rest of the chain.

Largely through the efforts of Masaoka Shiki, this independence was formally established in the 1890s through the creation of the term haiku. This new form of poetry was to be written, read and understood as an independent poem, complete in itself, rather than part of a longer chain.

A giant firefly:
that way, this way, that way, this -
and it passes by.

Answer 4

Aha! Poetry: Haiku
Articles, samples, links, and features on how to write haiku.
Category: Poetic Forms > Haiku
www.ahapoetry.com/haiku.htm - 85k - Cached - More from this site
Haiku - Wikipedia
Article about the form of traditional Japanese poetry.
Category: Poetic Forms > Haiku
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku

Answer 5

Haiku,is a mode of Japanese poetry.
The traditional haiku consisted of a pattern of approximately 5, 7, and 5 morae, phonetic units which only partially correspond to the syllables of languages such as English.

Example:

afternoon land breeze--
the sulphur butterfly
miles off shore

luggage carousel-
unclaimed, a garment bag
keeps travelling

summer music --
outgoing tide carrying
pebbles back to sea

Answer 6

exileisla. Haiku is an unrhymed verse form of Japanese origin having three lines containing usu. five, seven, and five sdyllables respectively; also: a poem in this form usu. having a seasonal reference.

From Santa Cruz, CA. Jose C. Aispuro.

Answer 7

Japanese poem
Expresses thoughts succinctly
In few syllables

Answer 8

three unrhymes lines of five, seven, and five syllables.
Example:

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