Nagoya ¨C I still remember my first encounter with Ù½¾ä (haiku). I was in first grade, attending an elementary school in the United States. Yes, at the age of 5, I wrote my first Ù½¾ä (sadly, I didn¡¯t keep a copy).
The entire objective of this lesson on Japanese poetry was actually to learn about how syllables are used in English. The goal was to produce three lines that matched the correct number of syllables in a Ù½¾ä: five, seven, five. It¡¯s only now, more than 20 years later, that I¡¯ve come to realize this doesn¡¯t nearly begin to describe the depths of this historic art form.
Let¡¯s try to plunge into those depths. First, take a look at possibly the most famous Ù½¾ä of all time ¡ª written by the most famous Ù½ÈË (haijin, haiku poet) of all time ¡ª ËÉβ°Å½¶ (Matsuo Bash¨, [1644-94]):
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