Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Writers helping writers Part Two

I seemed to have raised questions in my last post about haiku, so here is clarification (I hope!).
The original 5-7-5 line count is unique to the Japanese language. English haiku usually is short-long-short up to 17 syllables. The important points are that it is nature oriented and a single heightened moment happening in present time. Senryu is the form depicting human nature.
Each word is carefully selected and is not a run-on sentence, nor padded for syllable count.
Anyone really interested may want to read Modern Haiku, Simply Haiku and Shadow Poetry. I'm no expert, just a fan.

11 comments:

Corey Schwartz said...

Ah, thanks. That clarifies it.

storyqueen said...

I taught my fifth graders about senryu this past year. They referred to it as "Haiku with attitude."

Shelley

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Corey: COOL

Shelley: Haiku with attitude...I love that!

Unknown said...

:) I love that you know this. This is one of the subjects I teach in high school! :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Beth: *smiles big and, well, bigger* How cool that you teach haiku. I adore reading the old masters like Basho and Issa. They were so good at pulling you into a moment with perfect clarity. One of my favorites was a farmer pointing the way with a turnip.

Robyn Campbell said...

Dang Tricia, you never cease to amaze me. I get it now. Still couldn't write it, but I'll read it now. That's for sure. :)

Stephanie, PQW said...

Cool fact. Thanks.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Robyn: Aw,shucks. *blush bright* So glad you wanna read it now.

Stephanie: And thank you!

Stephanie Faris said...

I've never read any haiku but it sounds intriguing. Maybe I should check some out.

Robyn Campbell said...

Tricia, you probably have a boat load of awards from your newspaper days, but I gave you one over at my blog. :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Robyn: Oh my, thank you!