Happy Haiku Day! Today, April 17, is International Haiku Poetry Day.
An old pond
Sound of a frog jumping in
Splash of water
The above is a Haiku by Basho (1644-1694).
Check out ProQuest Learning-Literature genre pages for some great information about Haiku and its beginnings:
[su_quote]Haikai, literally meaning ‘humorous,’ veers from the traditional Renga mainly in theme. Rather than focusing on courtly life, Basho and other Haikai poets wrote about everyday life, sometimes in such a way that led to comic overtones in the poem.
Although some liberties have been taken with the form, Haiku is still popular today. While the inclusion of a seasonal reference is sometimes omitted, nature is often a central theme. Modern Haiku are usually broken into three lines to mark the five-seven-five syllable pattern.[/su_quote]
“Haiku, Tanka and Renga,” Proquest Learning Literature
Find this and other sources for poetry on GoWYLD.net Literature. These sources are available in your library or at school. For remote access you will need your Wyoming library card and PIN. For more information, contact your local library or contact Chris Van Burgh, Wyoming State Library Database Instruction Librarian, at chris.vanburgh@wyo.gov.