Haiku is a very old form of Japanese poetry.
This is an attempt to show important elements of that poetry.1. A haiku normally consists of three lines.2. StructureThe traditional structure of these linesis::
5-7-5 syllables in 1st-2nd-3d lines.
This is the traditional rhythmic structure. It stems from Japanese and ishardly translatable into English. Deviations from that pattern are thereforevery common.
3. The season word, (kigo).Most haiku contain a special season word: it introduces a certain timebackground in which "a haiku event" takes place.
4. Imagery.Every haiku is a sort of little picture, an interesting image.
Two main ideas about these images:
A) They come from direct experience; certain bright moments of lifeyou managed to catch with your "internal camera":
B) This image, being written down, should evoke certain deep feelings inreaders, too; this is really difficult -- not only to present the experiencein words but to do it such a way that it could be effectively reflected insomeone's mind.
The art of haiku (as I see it) is a dance on the sharp blade between these(A) and (B): you can write about what you saw but it won't grab your readeras you write merely "there are leaves on the tree" - extreme (A); on theother hand, going to the extreme (B), you can make up a fancy abstractconstruction but it'll be too far from the immediate perception; thisartificial fake will be visible and will impress no one.
Virtually, this "dance on the blade" is the essence of all poetry and Artin general.
5. Juxtaposition and Two-Element SchemeA great number of "haiku images" are based on juxtaposition.
Usually there are two things that happen to be somewhat "together",and haiku presents the very essence, the very dynamics of their relationship:
6. Metaphors and similes are not common for haiku.7. Haikus do not rhyme.Most poets, however, like to deviate from these definitions in one way or other.
