The Haiku Homepage

Introduction
Poetry has provided cultural expression since the time of language. Poetry was first a spoken medium, passed down from generation after generation through memorization. The founding of a written language provided a permenant means of recording poetry. In Europe, the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries brought the development of the Sonnet. During the same period, Japan developed an appreciation for a 17 syllable poetic form, leading to the development of the Haiku.

What is a Haiku?

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that has been imported to the English language. While Haiku in English is most often associated with the pattern of syllables-- a line of five, a line of seven, followed by a line of five--the art of Japanese Haiku focused on the content of the poem. A classical haiku begins with an observation of nature in the first two lines. The concluding line is then a brief and "aha" moment of realization about that observation.

In modern north America, Haiku have found a new life. While most Haiku follow the 3 line, 17 syllable standard, the observations are rarely about nature any longer. Instead, Haiku range between teen angst, lost love, corporate greed, and roadrage.

Examlpes of Modern Haiku:

Office Haiku [Adventures in Working]
Redneck Haiku
Honku: The Zen of Roadrage

Other Uses of Haiku

Most poeple wouldn't consider an ancient Japanese poem cutting edge technology. But now it seems Haiku are being used that way. Haiku, which can be copyrighted, are being used to thwart spam. The Haiku is used like a key; servers recieving email recognize the haiku and allow a message with the haiku to pass. Then Spammers who copy the haiku to try and bypass the security measure can be fined under the very severe copyright infringement laws.