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One of the shortest and most powerful form of poetry in history is the Haiku. Haiku was started in Japan, just before 1900. Originally intended as opening lines for a form of poetry called Renga, a very long poem which poets would take turn writing verses for, Haiku began to be published as a completely new form of poetry.
Japanese poets would often prepare several opening lines for Renga in the hopes that they would be chosen to write first and often had many of these three line openings written.
The traditional scheme of Haiku is three lines written with the first line containting 5 syllables, the second line containing 7 and the third line containing 5. The Haiku usually presents something to be experienced by the senses, touch, taste and sight but even the Japanese abandoned the traditional subject matter of the Haiku after admiring European and American versions of the form.
Writing Haiku is an excellent exercise in condensation in poetry. You only have three lines to make your reader see, sense and feel your experience, your words need to pack power. The form is not as important as the style of saying a great deal with few words and you can gain skill in imagery with practice. Here are some examples of Haiku written by Japanese master Matsuo Basho:
The lightning flashes!
And slashing through the darkness,
A night-heron’s screech.
Old pond…
A frog leaps in
Water’s sound
The syllable count of your Haiku need not be held to the strict 5-7-5 form, make the second line a little longer than the first and last, keep them short and focus your idea. The best way to learn to write Haiku is to read a great deal of it. Traditionally, Haiku has been written about nature, but you can make a Haiku on practically any subject, even interjecting sly humor which is especially effective in the short form, like a one-two punch.
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