Re: TRANS: a haiku: retort

On Tue, 18 Apr 2000, dirk elzinga wrote:

> On Mon, 17 Apr 2000, B Elliott Walker wrote:
>
> > On Mon, 17 Apr 2000, B Elliott Walker wrote:
> >
> > > ok. to those who are going to nitpick about how haiku 'has to has to has
> > to
> > > has to' be of 5/7/5 structure, let me tell you it MOST CERTAINLY DOES NOT.
> > > just go to your local library and pick up an anothology of modern English
> > /
> > > haiku poetry, and they usually go on (at great length)
> > > that haikus DO NOT have to be 5/7/5 or even consist of 3 lines to be
> > > considered an example of the genre.
> > >
> > > my 2 inflammatoy cents,
> > >
> > > byron
> >
> > In Japanese, haiku are not constructed according to syllable
> > count at all, but according to mora count. So everyone who's
> > arguing about how many syllables are in a haiku, you're all
> > wrong. :-)
> >
> > Dirk
> >
> > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> > isn't it a good thing, then, that i didn't mention Japanese at all? i only
> > Speak of English here (and perhaps others, i know nothing of
> > Spanich/French/German/Lithuanian/Evenki etc, haiku
>
> A "good thing"? A bit disingenuous perhaps, but not a "good
> thing" IMO. Haiku is a *Japanese* verse form, no matter who else
> indulges in it now. Ignoring that fact tells only part of the
> story.
The sonnet is an Italian form, but Shakespeare modified it for English --
do you object to Shakespearian sonnets, too?

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