I still don’t know what a haiku is and everyone I’ve tried to understand it I get confused about why they are appealing. I wish I could get in on the thing that you seem to naturally understand.
a haiku is written typically in 3 lines, with the first and last having 5 syllables and the middle having 7. Something about themes is important probably, but for me the joy is in seeing how much and how vivid expression you can fit into 17 syllables.
A haiku is a traditional Japanese style of poetry that consists of three lines of specific lengths and uses a seasonal reference to describe a feeling.
They’re popular on the internet because they’re perceived as easy to write, being short with few rules. Sadly they don’t make a lot of sense in English, because English doesn’t really do syllables of uniform length and stress like Japanese has, so the effect is mostly lost.
When people say “this is a haiku”, they mean the syllable counts line up. They’re not saying “this is poetry”.
This is such a helpful explanation, thank you. I lived in Japan for a few years and picked up a bit of language that is lost on me over two decades but it’s the first time it has ever ‘clicked’ for me why I would get so confused trying to make sense of them. Thank you so much. I don’t think I’ll ever appreciate haiku’s in English the way so many others do, and I don’t need to for them to enjoy them. Just really wanted to respond and let you know I really appreciate you taking the time to help me understand the confusion I had a bit more than I did and maybe even feel a little less lost for always feeling confused about something so inconsequential.
If the earth is round then why did my wife leave me and take the kids?
Ooo, one syllable off
If the earth is round
Then why did my wife leave me
and go with the kids?
I still don’t know what a haiku is and everyone I’ve tried to understand it I get confused about why they are appealing. I wish I could get in on the thing that you seem to naturally understand.
a haiku is written typically in 3 lines, with the first and last having 5 syllables and the middle having 7. Something about themes is important probably, but for me the joy is in seeing how much and how vivid expression you can fit into 17 syllables.
A haiku is a traditional Japanese style of poetry that consists of three lines of specific lengths and uses a seasonal reference to describe a feeling.
They’re popular on the internet because they’re perceived as easy to write, being short with few rules. Sadly they don’t make a lot of sense in English, because English doesn’t really do syllables of uniform length and stress like Japanese has, so the effect is mostly lost.
When people say “this is a haiku”, they mean the syllable counts line up. They’re not saying “this is poetry”.
This is such a helpful explanation, thank you. I lived in Japan for a few years and picked up a bit of language that is lost on me over two decades but it’s the first time it has ever ‘clicked’ for me why I would get so confused trying to make sense of them. Thank you so much. I don’t think I’ll ever appreciate haiku’s in English the way so many others do, and I don’t need to for them to enjoy them. Just really wanted to respond and let you know I really appreciate you taking the time to help me understand the confusion I had a bit more than I did and maybe even feel a little less lost for always feeling confused about something so inconsequential.