Dictionary Of Haiku

Nearly 5000 haiku by Jane Reichhold, written in English between 1993 - 2013 have been arranged according to the five seasons and seven traditional saijiki categories of Japan. However the haiku within the categories are arranged alphabetically - which makes this a dictionary.

According to my English dictionary haiku means: amusement in verse; Oxford Dictionaries differ slightly with: light verse, and add that it's a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five-seven-five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world; and also that it can be a poem in English written in the form of a haiku. The great haiku master Basho died in 1694 at the age of fifty; it was common in those days to observe a few other rules of composition, which many of us have deliberately disregarded in the micro-poetic world of today. Twitter, with its limitation of 140 characters, has surprisingly provided a platform for all manner of short form poetry celebrating many of the mundane, and eternal themes such as love, life, death, and the natural world. Perhaps, even Basho would accept that in the 21st century we should be allowed to express ourselves more freely and decide the contents of the haiku rule book - if we have one. Simplicity & beauty should be the main aim.

About the Book why do you haiku? is an original collection of haiku poems–an unrhymed, Japanese lyrical poetry style, consisting of three lines containing syllables of 5, 7, 5. This collection displays colorful backgrounds for the reader's absorption into essence and context. Reflective, thoughtful, and whimsical feelings are drawn out of this creative read. The illustrations in “why do you haiku?” are comprised of fabric pieces and objects to complement the poetry and accentuate the Haiku spirit.The book is unique in nature and in presentation. The targeted audiences range from ages 10 to 100. The book offers scholastic insights and also pleasurable fiction. About the Author Shannon M. Wallace was born in Bethesda, MD, raised in Wichita, KS, and eventually journeyed to Seattle, WA, where she has been living for the past 33 years. She has one grown son who lives in Los Angeles, CA, and she currently lives with her roommate Stella, a tabby cat who allows Wallace in the house. In the early 1990’s; made several attempts of writing short stories, long stories, plays, etc. It wasn’t until 2018 when a friend challenged her to write a Haiku; struggling at the concept of what a Haiku means or represents took a while. Once she embraced the haiku style, she couldn’t stop thinking in Haiku rhythms; after accumulated lots of bits of paper and scribbled notes, she decided to compile them into a book.

A Film of Words is the result of a writing project devised by this pair who have been writing together in the Japanese genres for over 20 years. In this book they combine haiku, tanka, haibun, haiga, free verse and prose along with graphics from both artists.

"Beautiful.... The reproductions are very fine, and the text is truly illuminating.... Among the few authoritative works on the subject." --Japan Times With an essay by Fumiko Y. Yamamoto

In the past hundred years, haiku has gone far beyond its Japanese origins to become a worldwide phenomenon—with the classic poetic form growing and evolving as it has adapted to the needs of the whole range of languages and cultures that have embraced it. This proliferation of the joy of haiku is cause for celebration—but it can also compel us to go back to the beginning: to look at haiku’s development during the centuries before it was known outside Japan. This in-depth study of haiku history begins with the great early masters of the form—like Basho, Buson, and Issa—and goes all the way to twentieth-century greats, like Santoka. It also focuses on an important aspect of traditional haiku that is less known in the West: haiku art. All the great haiku masters created paintings (called haiga) or calligraphy in connection with their poems, and the words and images were intended to be enjoyed together, enhancing each other, and each adding its own dimension to the reader’s and viewer’s understanding. Here one of the leading haiku scholars of the West takes us on a tour of haiku poetry’s evolution, providing along the way a wealth of examples of the poetry and the art inspired by it.