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The best-known forms of Japanese poetry (outside Japan) are haiku and senryu.
The classic traditional form is in fact waka. Much poetry in Japan was written in
the Chinese language, so it is more accurate to speak of Japanese-language
poetry. For example, in the Tale of Genji both kinds of poetry are frequently
mentioned. When Japanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry, it was at its
peak in the Tang dynasty and Japanese poets were totally fascinated. It took
them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their
culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin
to develop the diversity of their native poetry. Waka and Kanshi, Chinese poetry
including Japanese works written in (sometimes corrupted) Chinese, were the two
greatest pillars of Japanese poetry. From them many other forms, such as renga,
haiku or senryu, arose.
Haiku (俳句) is a mode of Japanese poetry, the late 19th century revision by
Masaoka Shiki of the older hokku (発句) the opening verse of a linked verse
form, haikai no renga. A traditional hokku consists of a pattern of approximately
5, 7, and 5 morae, phonetic units which only partially correspond to the syllables
of languages such as English. It also contains a special season word (the kigo)
descriptive of the season in which the renga is set. Hokku often combine two (or
rarely, three) different elements into a unified sensory impression, with a major
grammatical break (kire) usually at the end of either the first five or second seven
morae. These elements of the older hokku are considered by many to be
essential to haiku as well, although not always included by modern writers of
Japanese "free-form haiku" and of non-Japanese haiku. Senryu is a similar
poetry form that emphasizes humor and human foibles instead of seasons.
Senryū (川柳) literally 'river willow'is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to
haiku in construction: three lines with 17 or fewer morae (NOT syllables) in total.
However, senryū tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about
nature, and senryū are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are serious.
Senryū do not need to include a kigo, or season word, like haiku.
Waka (和歌) or Yamato uta is a genre of Japanese poetry. Waka literally means
Japanese poem in Japanese. The word was originally coined during the Heian
period to differentiate native poetry from the kanshi (Chinese poems) that all
educated Japanese people were also familiar with.
The classic traditional form is in fact waka. Much poetry in Japan was written in
the Chinese language, so it is more accurate to speak of Japanese-language
poetry. For example, in the Tale of Genji both kinds of poetry are frequently
mentioned. When Japanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry, it was at its
peak in the Tang dynasty and Japanese poets were totally fascinated. It took
them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their
culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin
to develop the diversity of their native poetry. Waka and Kanshi, Chinese poetry
including Japanese works written in (sometimes corrupted) Chinese, were the two
greatest pillars of Japanese poetry. From them many other forms, such as renga,
haiku or senryu, arose.
Haiku (俳句) is a mode of Japanese poetry, the late 19th century revision by
Masaoka Shiki of the older hokku (発句) the opening verse of a linked verse
form, haikai no renga. A traditional hokku consists of a pattern of approximately
5, 7, and 5 morae, phonetic units which only partially correspond to the syllables
of languages such as English. It also contains a special season word (the kigo)
descriptive of the season in which the renga is set. Hokku often combine two (or
rarely, three) different elements into a unified sensory impression, with a major
grammatical break (kire) usually at the end of either the first five or second seven
morae. These elements of the older hokku are considered by many to be
essential to haiku as well, although not always included by modern writers of
Japanese "free-form haiku" and of non-Japanese haiku. Senryu is a similar
poetry form that emphasizes humor and human foibles instead of seasons.
Senryū (川柳) literally 'river willow'is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to
haiku in construction: three lines with 17 or fewer morae (NOT syllables) in total.
However, senryū tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about
nature, and senryū are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are serious.
Senryū do not need to include a kigo, or season word, like haiku.
Waka (和歌) or Yamato uta is a genre of Japanese poetry. Waka literally means
Japanese poem in Japanese. The word was originally coined during the Heian
period to differentiate native poetry from the kanshi (Chinese poems) that all
educated Japanese people were also familiar with.