: Re: Does a Haiku need to have exactly 17 syllables? Having 17 syllables is in the definition of Haiku, but does it have to have exactly 17 syllables? Is this usually followed strictly, or is it

@Sue2132873

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Let me start by saying that this question has already been answered and the answer is no.

I've been writing and publishing haiku for about a decade now, so I wanted to weigh in.

Western haiku writers, starting more or less in the early 1900s used the 5-7-5 syllable form in imitation of the Japanese. But because of the way the Japanese language works (it tends to use very standard-length sounds as opposed to English, for example, where a single syllable can be various lengths) those writing in the haiku form started to break away from strict adherence to the 5-7-5 rule.

If you look at any haiku publication today (The Heron's Nest, for example), you'll see haiku in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some haiku consist of only a single word.

The main thing that makes a haiku a haiku is the spirit of the poem. But that's a whole other topic. And books have been written by far better writers than myself on the topic so I won't try to recapitulate that here.

At the end of the day, if you want to write in 5-7-5 you can, of course. Some still do. But the syllables contained in the poem are not as important as the spirit of the poem. You can read a history of people trying to define it here, but the best way, IMHO, is to read good haiku and learn from them.

(Adding some more info...You're right, DougM...)

What I mean by the spirit of the poem (I know, it's pretty vague, right?) is the feeling you get when you read a good haiku. A haiku is traditionally made up of two parts. You have two images, not necessarily related, and then the spark that jumps between them when you read the poem. That's what I'm trying to get at as the spirit of haiku.

Buson wrote a famous haiku that goes something like "sudden chill/ in the bedroom/ stepping on my dead wife's comb". This can perhaps give you an idea of the sort of mild jolt between the two halves. (Like I said, books have been written on these subjects, so please forgive the necessarily sketchy nature of my reply.)

Another example is a haiku by Nick Virgilio: "lily:/ out of the water.../ out of itself"

Some commentators on haiku have said that they are unfinished poems, that the reader finishes the poem in his or her mind.

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