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An internet craze
Haiku, advice encoded
Guru or wanker?

A Jewish-American sometime poet and regular on the NewsGroup soc.history.what-if, Jonathon Edeilstien, once wrote, (I'm paraphrasing, but this was the essential thrust of his argument) that, since the informational content of English per syllable is far greater than that of Japanese, a Haiku in English should only contain 11 syllables compared to the 17 of Japanese.

Consider
All that is need
Not have been

He went on to suggest different themes for the Haiku of each nation; arguing that seasons and nature befitted the Japanese, but scarcely the Americans. For his own nations, he suggested motion (America):

Wheels of time
Push the past aside
No regrets

and Hope and Despair (Israel):

Promised Land
Turned to nightmare; but
We dream still

As people may have guessed, I approve.




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Last edited May 21, 2003 3:40 pm (viewing revision 3, which is the newest) (diff)
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