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Email Neil
Toronto
416-876-1513
Peterborough
705-874-8978
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Haiku Peterborough
Learn the art of haiku poetry in this free monthly group. We meet to write and share haiku.
Beginners are always welcome. We share examples and exercises, and learn how to give useful feedback to each other to help improve our haiku.
We meet the last Monday of each month, unless otherwise noted.
The next meeting is Monday, March 31, 2008, at 7 pm in the Board Room of the Peterborough Public Library on Aylmer Street.
Please contact Neil if you need more information.
What is Haiku? (examples below)
Haiku is a type of poetry that originated in Japan over 500 years ago.
Japanese haiku were traditionally written in three parts with 17 syllables and had a reference to nature, called a season word.
When the Western world first started imitating Japanese haiku, early translators decided English haiku should also have 17 syllables divided into three lines of 5-7-5 syllables each.
This is why so many of us were taught the 5-7-5 formula for haiku back in public school.
This can be misleading as the Japanese syllable or "onji" is not the same as an English syllable.
For example, the words "a", "both" and "thought" are all one syllable but have different vocal lengths.
Also, in Japanese haiku, certain "onji" are called cutting words and are used in place of punctuation marks.
So 17 syllables in a Japanese haiku does not always translate directly to 17 syllables in English.
For over fifty years modern English haiku writers have used fewer syllables while still maintaining the haiku spirit in capturing a moment.
At the core of haiku is capturing a moment of experience or insight in a few words.
This is done by the use of simple language without the usual poetic techniques of similes, metaphors or rhyme.
Sharp clear images are used to evoke in the reader the experience of the poet.
Haiku remains one of the most popular forms of poetry in the world. In Japan today over ten million people write haiku.
All over the worlds millions of people of all ages write and share haiku through groups, magazines and the internet.
Haiku Examples
Here are some examples of modern English haiku by Neil Muscott.
night pond
a fish kisses
the moon's face
under the bridge
pigeons nest
over the graffiti
old woman
each year the broom
grows heavier
autumn river
the old couple walks
not holding hands
Sunday morning
a lawn mower drowns out
the church bells
after the rain
my neighbour
still waters his lawn
Copyright Neil Muscott 2007. The contents of this website may not be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission.
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