How to Write Haiku and Other Short Poems

During the Edo period — haiku and senryu were combined with painting and calligraphy. Thus, a new visual poetry form was born, it was called Haiga. Haiga is a poetry blended with picture that tells about profound observation of life, living and the world. Thematically the poetry in the haiga is similar to the picture. Haiga was initially painted over wooden blocks, stones, cloths, and paper and used as room decoration.

Haiga is highly regarded in Zen Buddhism. Creating haiga is thought to be a type of Buddhist meditation. The modern haiga normally presents a haiku or senryu written on painting or photograph. In the beginning, when Japanese poetry forms were not developed, waka was used to denote all kinds of poem. Waka literally means classical Japanese poetry.

The word waka was later replaced with tanka. Tanka is the modern name for waka. It is one of the oldest Japanese poetry styles. Tanka is non-rhyming Japanese poetry form composed in five lines, in format, 31 syllables in total. It consists of two elements. The first three lines is called kami-no-ku literally upper phrase and the last two lines is called shimo-no-ku literally lower phrase. In the ninth and tenth centuries, short poems dominated Japanese poetry styles. Kokinshu is one of the earliest collections of tanka.

However, tanka poetry form was almost lost for one thousand years. Japanese poet, essayist, and critic Masaoka Shiki is credited for the revival of tanka poetry, and the invention of haiku from hokku haikai. Masaoka lived during the reign of Japanese emperor Meiji Tenno Meiji is credited for the development of modern Japan.

Masaoka tried to do the same thing in Japanese poetry. Kokin-shu, an anthology of poetry, was compiled by a court noble Ki Tsurayuki in Kokin-shu styles of poetry ruled Japan for about one thousand years. Hagia originated when the artists began writing haiku over their paintings. The artists experimented with typography.

The basic intention of writing haiku was to showcase calligraphy that also explained the painting. Thus, haiga became an art form.

Haiku - Wikipedia

In the modern time, when people began creating haiga on photographs, it lost the meaning of art, and it became more of literary form. Sign in or sign up and post using a HubPages Network account. Comments are not for promoting your articles or other sites. I saw this Hub on one of my Hubs and I find it very informative. Thanks for doing the research for, and publishing, this very informative article. Thanks, too, for including links to my articles about poetic forms.

Poetry is a beautiful, artistic form of expression..

You have added to that beauty with this Hub. I knew about Haiku but the others are a new discovery to me. I thought Daisy was the only one who delved in poetic cultures. Haiku poetry swept through Hubpages. In its wake were were presented with Senryu and then Haiga. It is so interesting to read your article bringing all the forms together for review. Thank you for defining these poetry forms.

I love the challenge of a Haiku, but have not taken on any of the others you mention. What a comprehensive hub here on Japanese poetry forms. I learned a lot reading here. I knew of most forms, but not all.


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Thank you for another excellent write. You have really cover a lot of stuff. I will certainly bookmark this to come back to, thank you so much, you have done a wonderful job! I am familiar with haiku and tanka but not the others. Thanks for the education, Vinaya! Well done my friend. Haiku, Senryu, Haiga and Tanka, you have covered all the aspects of Japanese poetry very interesting and useful. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. HubPages and Hubbers authors may earn revenue on this page based on affiliate relationships and advertisements with partners including Amazon, Google, and others.

To provide a better website experience, owlcation. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so. For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: History of Japanese Poetry The classical Japanese poetry is referred as waka. Waka Japan was heavily influenced by Chinese poetry, Japanese poets composed poems in Chinese language. Haikai When renga is composed in humorous and comic themes, it is called haikai.

Renga Renga is a linked-verse Japanese poetry from composed in tanka pattern. Today haiku are mostly written in three lines, in 17 or less syllables. Haiku is not a sentence in three fragments. The best haiku are open ended. Haiku is about nature and season as experienced or observed by the poet. Haiku uses minimal punctuation. Metaphors, similes and other poetry elements are unnecessary in haiku. Haiku does not tell but shows the emotions as experienced by the poet. Haiku present specific moments rather than extensive picture. Haiku, senryu, haiga and tanka are used in both, singular as well as plural form.

Haiku The word haiku combines two different words haikai and hokku. Senryu In the 18th century, Karai Senryu composed short non-rhyming poems, about human foibles and ironies, in form. Given a choice between different Japanese poetry forms, what do you choose? Haiku Senryu Haiga Tanka See results. Tanka In the beginning, when Japanese poetry forms were not developed, waka was used to denote all kinds of poem.

Japanese Poetry Forms: Haiku, Senryu, Haiga and Tanka

The modern tanka poetry form was revived in the late s by Japanese poetess Tawara Machi. Questions must be on-topic, written with proper grammar usage, and understandable to a wide audience. Haiku is the most used form of Japanese poetry. Bookmarking this for the next time I teach a poetry class. I came back to read again since i love doing this type of poetry..

Daisy, thank you very much for reading and giving valuable feedback. Rasta, I'm glad that I was able to teach you something new. Vinaya, Thanks for doing the research for, and publishing, this very informative article. Mckirdbks Angel Teaches Thank you very much for your feedback. This is excellent , well researched and discussed. A class A work. I appreciate your view on the topic.

Thanks for taking time to read and comment. Brilliant Vinaya; voted up and shared. Up and more and sharing Blessings, Faith Reaper. I love to write haiku poetry. Thank's for all the great info. This website uses cookies As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. This is used to prevent bots and spam. This is used to detect comment spam. This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site.

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That is one of the reasons I like it. I think it would be a great book fo a classroom library or a budding young poet. Apr 20, Catherine Thomas rated it really liked it. Cute little book about writing haiku and other short forms of poetry.

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Written with children in mind, but it has some great ideas for classroom activities and some good examples of haiku and other poems. Aug 31, Jennifer Ware rated it really liked it Shelves: Theron rated it really liked it Apr 19, Connie rated it it was ok Sep 01, Sherri rated it liked it Jul 31, Michael rated it did not like it Oct 08, Brittany rated it it was amazing Dec 26, Richard rated it really liked it Jul 04, Wilson rated it liked it Sep 12, Pauline rated it really liked it May 21, Greg rated it it was ok Mar 07, Lyndsay rated it liked it Oct 19, Kay marked it as to-read Aug 22, Christina marked it as to-read Dec 02, YA Bookgirl added it Dec 05, Volunteer Library marked it as to-read Feb 09, Krista Tillman marked it as to-read Jun 01, Samantha Ovies added it Aug 15, Lois marked it as to-read Aug 12, Donna added it Aug 12, Modesto Abel marked it as to-read Dec 30, Krystal is currently reading it Jan 01, Aaron Williams marked it as to-read Jan 11, Melanie Wiggins marked it as to-read May 02, Candice Ellingson added it Aug 27, Solo Abdullahi marked it as to-read Dec 06, Evalyn Beagles marked it as to-read Jan 19, April added it Mar 17, Beth marked it as to-read Sep 12, Rachel Fontenot Studio marked it as to-read Jan 02, Tina added it Jan 18, Denise Crouch marked it as to-read Jan 31, Sabrina Maurer added it Feb 19, Gayle Gale marked it as to-read Mar 24, Mickslibrarian marked it as to-read Nov 15, Laura marked it as to-read Dec 01, Ashley Kress added it Jan 26, Susan Cooper marked it as to-read Mar 08, Shawn Shenk added it Sep 19, Alysia Daniels is currently reading it Dec 03, There are no discussion topics on this book yet.

Books by Paul B. Trivia About How to Write Haik No trivia or quizzes yet.