The key to learning to write Haiku is, of course to learn as much as you can about the form and read as wide a range of Haiku as possible
In doing so, one might try beginning with the "Official Definitions of Haiku and Related Terms" (with connecting links) at: http://www.hsa-haiku.org/HSA_Definitions_2004.html put out by the Haiku Society of America
Additionally, a brief overview and additional links can be found at: http://www.haikuhut.com/Haiku Definition.htm and a more comprehensive discussion can be found at: http://www.iyume.com/research/metrics/haikumet.html
Also check out Essays on haiku by Jane Reichhold and others, on this very comprehensive site -
http://www.ahapoetry.com/haiku.htm
Between them, these links should answer most of the questions one has about the Haiku or related forms.
The easiest first step to take in writing your own Haiku is to imitate and/or emulate the Haiku written by the Masters. Here are some suggestions that I've posted on this Forum before.
Someone once posted a version of Basho's Frog/Pond poem on another forum that read like this:
The ancient pond
A frog leaps in
The sound of the water.
Translated by Donald Keene
Here is a yet another version of that poem, which I suspect is actually an imitation rather than a translation. I didn't write it. It was passed on to me by a friend and I have no idea who the original should be attributed to.
young frog
ancient pond
splash
Now, I personally prefer this version to the one to the Keene one because the word "splash" is more evocative than "sound of water" and the use of the words "young" and "ancient" gives a feeling of timelessness, inferring that this scenario has repeated itself endlessly through time.
This example is just the beginning of discovering what can be done with imitation and emulation.
To start things off, here is one I wrote a while back to imitate a pair of poems that was also also posted on that Forum illustrating the emulation of a translation.
His English version read:
a person walks slow
to get appreciation
of their surroundings
The second, he labled an imitation oriental translation version:
man walking slowly
has longer life in his eyes
roots for his being
My version, (which was based on the posted versions went like this and may be considered as much emulation as imitation, as it introduces an additional element of time):
he who walks slowly
appreciates more fully
all that he perceives.
Regrettably, The author of the original Haiku, was never named, so I have no way of making a comparison to the ACTUAL original. Nonetheless, I think that these three versions give ample examples of how imitation and emulation can be done.
I can say that my version was one of my favorites of those I have done and I think that those who try this will find it rewarding, so feel free to go ahead and take a stab at it, and for those who are interested, here is a site that contains over 30 translations of Basho's poem),including the Keene Translation cited above): http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/basho-frog.htm
Moreover, experimenting with imitation or emulation should not be limited to those examples. A full range of classic and a few modern Haiku that can be used to work with can be found at:
http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/
In the meantime, please note that the easiest way to imitate Haiku, particularly "classic" ones in the 5-7-5 form is to rewrite them in "modern" format.
Consider this Haiku by Basho
The first soft snow!
Enough to bend the leaves
Of the jonquil low.
A modern version might read something like
first snow
bends the jonquil leaves
down low
or more simply as with this Haiku by Hashin
No sky
no earth - but still
snowflakes fall
my version might be
no sky
no earth
still snowflakes fall
In this case all that really changes is the form of presentation but the thought remains.
It might seem that these are simply variations on the translations, and they are, but as I don't read or write Japanese,I can't translate the original myself, and it is my understanding that any adaptation of the original can constitute an imitation.
If I'm incorrect, I invite any one in the know, to correct me and clarify the distinctions between rewrites, imitations and emulations.
Beyond that, as a final example, consider this Haiku by Issa
In my old home
which I forsook, the cherries
are in bloom.
and my version
old home
forsaken
cherries still bloom
An emulation might be something like:
abandoned farmhouse
long forgotten
daffodils bloom anyway
Note that in this case, the subjects change but the concept remains the same.
_
Exercises like this are things anyone can do and I hope this gives everyone something to think about as well as some tools to work with.
Write on
Jim Hoye (JRH)
In doing so, one might try beginning with the "Official Definitions of Haiku and Related Terms" (with connecting links) at: http://www.hsa-haiku.org/HSA_Definitions_2004.html put out by the Haiku Society of America
Additionally, a brief overview and additional links can be found at: http://www.haikuhut.com/Haiku Definition.htm and a more comprehensive discussion can be found at: http://www.iyume.com/research/metrics/haikumet.html
Also check out Essays on haiku by Jane Reichhold and others, on this very comprehensive site -
http://www.ahapoetry.com/haiku.htm
Between them, these links should answer most of the questions one has about the Haiku or related forms.
The easiest first step to take in writing your own Haiku is to imitate and/or emulate the Haiku written by the Masters. Here are some suggestions that I've posted on this Forum before.
Someone once posted a version of Basho's Frog/Pond poem on another forum that read like this:
The ancient pond
A frog leaps in
The sound of the water.
Translated by Donald Keene
Here is a yet another version of that poem, which I suspect is actually an imitation rather than a translation. I didn't write it. It was passed on to me by a friend and I have no idea who the original should be attributed to.
young frog
ancient pond
splash
Now, I personally prefer this version to the one to the Keene one because the word "splash" is more evocative than "sound of water" and the use of the words "young" and "ancient" gives a feeling of timelessness, inferring that this scenario has repeated itself endlessly through time.
This example is just the beginning of discovering what can be done with imitation and emulation.
To start things off, here is one I wrote a while back to imitate a pair of poems that was also also posted on that Forum illustrating the emulation of a translation.
His English version read:
a person walks slow
to get appreciation
of their surroundings
The second, he labled an imitation oriental translation version:
man walking slowly
has longer life in his eyes
roots for his being
My version, (which was based on the posted versions went like this and may be considered as much emulation as imitation, as it introduces an additional element of time):
he who walks slowly
appreciates more fully
all that he perceives.
Regrettably, The author of the original Haiku, was never named, so I have no way of making a comparison to the ACTUAL original. Nonetheless, I think that these three versions give ample examples of how imitation and emulation can be done.
I can say that my version was one of my favorites of those I have done and I think that those who try this will find it rewarding, so feel free to go ahead and take a stab at it, and for those who are interested, here is a site that contains over 30 translations of Basho's poem),including the Keene Translation cited above): http://www.bopsecrets.org/gateway/passages/basho-frog.htm
Moreover, experimenting with imitation or emulation should not be limited to those examples. A full range of classic and a few modern Haiku that can be used to work with can be found at:
http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/
In the meantime, please note that the easiest way to imitate Haiku, particularly "classic" ones in the 5-7-5 form is to rewrite them in "modern" format.
Consider this Haiku by Basho
The first soft snow!
Enough to bend the leaves
Of the jonquil low.
A modern version might read something like
first snow
bends the jonquil leaves
down low
or more simply as with this Haiku by Hashin
No sky
no earth - but still
snowflakes fall
my version might be
no sky
no earth
still snowflakes fall
In this case all that really changes is the form of presentation but the thought remains.
It might seem that these are simply variations on the translations, and they are, but as I don't read or write Japanese,I can't translate the original myself, and it is my understanding that any adaptation of the original can constitute an imitation.
If I'm incorrect, I invite any one in the know, to correct me and clarify the distinctions between rewrites, imitations and emulations.
Beyond that, as a final example, consider this Haiku by Issa
In my old home
which I forsook, the cherries
are in bloom.
and my version
old home
forsaken
cherries still bloom
An emulation might be something like:
abandoned farmhouse
long forgotten
daffodils bloom anyway
Note that in this case, the subjects change but the concept remains the same.
_
Exercises like this are things anyone can do and I hope this gives everyone something to think about as well as some tools to work with.
Write on
Jim Hoye (JRH)
