Japanese Forms~

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Haiku:

 Haiku (also called nature or seasonal haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Haiku is usually written in the present tense and focuses on nature (seasons). 

 
Example #1:
Pink cherry blossoms
Cast shimmering reflections 
On seas of Japan

Copyright © Andrea






Katauta:


an unrhymed japanese form consisting of 17 or 19 syllables. The poem is a three-lined poem the following syllable counts: 5/7/5 or 5/7/7.

The Katauta form was used for poems addressed to a lover. A single Katauta is considered incomplete or a half-poem, however, a pair of katautas using the syllable count of 5,7,7 is called a sedoka.


Example #2:


Touch

By milky moonlight
your silky skin upon mine
ignites a great desire.

Copyright © 2012 Marie Summers










Sedoka:






A Sedoka, (pair of katauta) as a single poem, may address the same subject from differing perspectives.






Example #1:


War Path

Fractured wanderer
leaving a tortured city,
hammocked insecurely.

Quenched of thirst for blood,
he may now respect beauty,
unappreciated 'fore.

Copyright © 2003 Christian Ugalde












Senryu:






Senryu (also called human haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Senryu is usually written in the present tense and only references to some aspect of human nature or emotions. They possess no references to the natural world and thus stand out from nature/seasonal haiku.






Example #1:


Brilliant words flowing
From those never knowing, how
many lives they touch....

Copyright © 2001 Connie Marcum Wong














Tanka:






Tanka is a classic form of Japanese poetry related to the haiku with five unrhymed lines of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables. (5, 7, 5, 7, 7).






Example #1:


A cool wind blows in
With a blanket of silence.
Straining to listen
For those first few drops of rain,
The storm begins in earnest.

Copyright © 2001 Dendrobia

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