Ms Burke | World Cultures

 Japanese Poetry  First came to the United States in the 1950s  Began around the 7 th century  Short lyrical poems called “uta” (songs) were written as a part of pre-Buddhist or early Shinto ceremonial ritual

 Before, long poems were popular – choka  Now, short poems – tanka – started to emerge in popularity  5 – 7 – 5 triplet followed by a couplet of a 7 syllable response ▪ 5 syllables ▪ 7 syllables ▪ 5 syllables ▪ 7 syllables

 This format is similar to Shakepeare’s Iambic Pentameter in England  Mid-16 th Century:  Rise in “peasant poetry”  Japanese poetry underwent a rebirth in which the poems of the past were replaced with a lighter, airier form of poetry  The Haikus were born! Generally seasonal and about nature

 Basho was a poet in the late 17 th century who put sensibility and sensitivity into his poems  He advocated spontaneous prose  You make up your poem on the spot  Over 2,000 members of his school of poetry meet to make up hundreds of haikus a day

 Syllables are important  moras  “Mora” doesn’t translate well into English  You write the first and someone responds with a 7-7  Very simple  BUT one of the hardest poems to write!  Observation of a natural, common event

 An old silent pond… A frog jumps into the pond, splash! Silence again.  Lightning flash – what I thought were faces are plumes of pampas grass