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Showing results for tags 'haiku'.
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Okay … so here are some haiku. Six to satisfy the prompt from AC's Zero to Hero Guide. waxy lily pads keep the green leaping frogs dry between awkward jumps the smiling dog runs his lolling tongue evidence of his happiness puddles line the walk jumping feet leave small footprints one of springtime’s games leaves change colour now donning coats of red and gold a glowing farewell coloured leaves taken by cold breezes fly and drop making bright carpets warm houses and cold make icy patterns on glass like dancing snowflakes
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. Poetry Prompt 11 – Haiku #2 Let's Write an Issa-style Haiku! We have studied Tanka, and Basho-style Haiku, so now we can move on to the other great master of Japanese Haiku, Issa Kobayashi.[1] While in Tanka the poet can have free range to explore the subjective with words like "I" and "me," Basho's Haiku strives to be totally objective and simply paint a scene with words. His Haiku assume the reader will feel the same emotions the poet did from simply reading the scene. Issa approached it from a different perspective. His Haiku are almost a perfect blend of detached witness speaking from an "I" POV, while focusing on showing (and not telling) the reader about an event. Here's an example: The dog's kindness shows as he moves aside for me on this path of snow. Or, here's another wintry one: Hey, it's in his look, that guy right in front of me, right down to his chill. Now for some background: born in 1763, and trained firmly in the Basho tradition of poetry, he wrote more than 20,000 Haiku but only a few hundred Tanka.[2] When he was 52 years old, he decided to start writing a poetic journal, whereby he would chronicle a year of his life. He called it Oraga haru, or My Springtime.[3] His wife had borne him a daughter recently, and their child turned two years old as he began this project. He dedicated his newfound joy in living to the fact that she brought hope and a fresh outlook to his existence. It proved tragic, because as he was writing this work, his daughter contracted smallpox and died. Issa recorded it all – his happiness, his despair, his grief, and finally, his determination that a higher purpose exists. Oraga haru became a landmark when he published, and it's arguably one of the greatest poetic works you'll be able to find. Do check it out in Hamill's translation. So, intimacy reigns in Issa's Haiku. He does not shy away from being a poet telling his side of things, as long as he keeps it simple, and adheres to the basic requirements of the Haiku as a form. Those are, the inclusion of a seasonal word – like 'snow,' and 'chill' in the examples above – and a structure of three lines arranged in syllables of 5-7-5. The question is, how does he do his magic? Answer: I do not know. It's just one of those things that works or fails to work, so I can simply give you more examples to see how he balanced the objective with the subjective. The great lord is now from his horse dismounting like cherry blossoms fall. --- You butterfly, fly – I see already on me too much earth-bound earth. --- At mid-summer's height, my umbrella disappeared; hard-core thief, perhaps? --- There are moonlit flowers, forty-nine years' worth of them, beneath whom I've walked. --- Perfect form, oh, snail, bit by bit, unflagged you climb Mount Fuji's great heights. --- Old dog lying there ear on the ground as if to hear Worm's lullaby. And his most famous poem, the one for the loss of his daughter: Tsuyu no yo wa tsuyu no yo nagara sarinagara The way of the dew, the dew's way of departing, brings and takes so much. The Prompt: write one or more Haiku based on an animal observation. This can be an inspirational moment, like a snail climbing a mountain, or a peaceful moment, like a dog napping on the grass. Just anything you see from the animal kingdom that makes you pause and reflect. Keep a seasonal word, and maintain three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. ------------------------------------------------ [1] In Japan, he's simply known as Issa, which is highly unusual. For in Europe, many important people, like Michelangelo and Galileo, are remembered by their first names; in Japan that's almost unheard of. I would speculate it's the intimacy of his poetry that makes people feel close to him; close enough to simply think of him as "Issa." [2] See: The Spring of My Life by Sam Hamill, Boston 1997. [3] Oftentimes the simplest things are the most difficult to translate. Case in point, the word oraga is a masculine form of 'my,' but it carries a certain, forced crudeness to it. It's a spoken work, the kind you're likely to hear in informal settings, like a bar, and its inclusion in the title of a collection of poems must have shocked early readers. I almost toy with the idea that the accurate rendering in English for this book is My Damn Spring. _
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The Haiku is a Japanese poetry form. In English we usually use a 5, 7, 5 syllable line. The Haiku usually focuses on some aspect of nature and ends with a surprise. With that in mind try writing at least one of your own. Here is one of mine as an example. I hear the screaming And run to find him pointing At a spider. Squish. Modern American Haiku's have taken the poetry form and converted it keeping the syllable line but now taking the idea and using it to tell long stories in a series of Haiku. Take this opportunity to write at least one of your own.
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. Poetry Prompt 2 – Haiku Let's Write a Basho-style Haiku! It's arguable that Haiku is now the most popular set form of verse in the English language. Today more Haiku are written around the world than Sonnets and all the other forms put together. Haiku, or Hokku, arose out of Tanka and a variation on that form. The natural way in which the five lines of Tanka can be broken into strophes of three and two lines, in either combination, was known as Renga, or linked verses. These witty poems, which often took the form of question and answer, were light and popular entertainment. That all changed with a Gay genius. Basho Mastsuo (1644-1694) spent his life sequestered with the men he loved, first with the teenager with whom he was raised almost as a brother within a samurai family, and then later as a lay Buddhist monk with several men who formed his acolytes and partners. In the summer of 1684 (when he was forty years old), he set out with his partner Chiri (who was thirty-six) to see the country. These adventures resulted in the flowering of his poetry and the widespread dispersal of his brand of Haiku. Later, his most influential travel collection of verse was finalized the year he died as Oku no Hosomichi, or A Narrow Path through Open Country. Its posthumous publication in 1702 ensured his poetic immortality. So, Basho's form was a serious attempt to redact out the subjective view of the poet, and in this regard he was influenced by Zen thought that the "I" is an illusion. Within a very limited form he tried to capture the corporal impressions of an event, and trusted that the reader would insert his or her own emotions into what they were shown. By corporal I mean the bodily senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. His most famous Haiku is this: Furu ike ya Kawazu tobikomu Mizu no oto. Which translates literally as: Old pond over A frog jumps The water's sound. There is a particular anthology of one hundred English language versions of those eight simple Japanese words, and all of them are different, and all of them are in proper Haiku form. The Haiku is based on a three-lined structure, and has the following syllables: 5,7,5. Like all Japanese poetry and traditional lyrics, a seasonal word is essential. In the frog poem, the frog is a symbol of summer. Another summer poem that illustrates his totally subjective style is this one from Oku no Hosomichi: In complete silence, A cicada's voice alone Shakes the temple stones. The Prompt: write two Haiku. One inspired by a sight you witnessed outdoors, in a secluded patch of nature (either in your yard, a city park, or the great untamed wilderness). And a second one inspired by an urban sight (something that catches your eye on the street), or that happens indoors. You must be true to the form and include a seasonal word within both poems, but remember, words like 'surfboard' and 'bug spray' speak of summer just as much as 'frog' and 'cicada' do. Think outside the box and just use a sight that speaks to the season in the part of the world you are right now. To be a true Haiku, do not use words or concepts like "I," "my," "mine," etc. Stick to plain scene painting, for if the sight moved you, it has the potential to move others too. _
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