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Haiku
Haiku is the most important form of traditional Japanese poetry, consisting
of three lines, with 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively, and including a seasonal
theme. Haiku poems can describe almost anything, but themes are generally simple
enough to be understood by most people. Some Haiku poems describe daily events
in a way that provides new experience of a common situation.
In Japanese, Haiku poems must follow the respective 5, 7, 5 syllables in three
lines format, however, in English due to the variation in length of syllables,
this can be difficult. Cutting the Haiku poem divides it into two parts, with
the two sections remaining somewhat independent of one another, though each
section must enrich the understanding of the other. To accomplish cutting Haiku
poems in English, the first or second line usually ends with a colon, dash,
or ellipsis.
Haiku poems must contain a seasonal word, called a “kigo,” which indicates
in which season the Haiku is set, though this word is not always obvious.
The history of modern Haiku dates to 1892, when Masaoka Shiki named Haiku as
a new form of poetry to be written, read, and understood as an independent poem,
complete in itself, rather than as part of a longer chain.
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