HAIKU(One of The Traditional Japanese Poems'Style)

　

In Japan, there used to be short poems which had said in chorus by two people. The oldest Japanese literature called “KOJIKI” mentions that kind of songs, so it is said that this is the beginning of “HAIKU”. It was about 712 AD After a while some of the rules are set up.

<Rules>

  1. Should have 5, 7, 5 sounds, total is 17.(When we translate into English, it’s different.)

  2. Should have an independent meaning by itself.

  3. Should have a word that explains a season in it.

　

BASHO is one of the famous person who made “HAIKU”. I’d like to introduce some of those which are translated into English even though it is very difficult to translate them.

　

Pretending to drink sake from my fan, sprinkled with cherry petals.(spring)

Dew-drops?how better wash away world’s dust.(summer)

Spider, are you crying?or the autumn wind?(autumn)

Snowy morning?one crow after another.(winter)

(Bold words are seasonal words.)

　
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1