Poems

1. Poems

2. Limericks • Short, humorous poems • Made in 18th century (1700s) • Takes its name from a country in Ireland that was featured in an old song, “Oh Will You Come Up to Limerick” • Sometimes seen as “light” verse, but they have very strict rules for structure

3. Structure of Limericks • 5 lines • aabba rhyme scheme • Titles are first lines • Often manipulate words that rhyme to make them “fit” together

4. Haiku • A form of poetry that originated in Japan. • In their original form, haiku were the introductory verses of longer poems called tanka, but they have become popular as a form in their own right since the 17th century.

5. Structure of Haiku • A 17 syllable structure, organized as follows: 1st line: 5 syllables 2nd line: 7 syllables 3rd line: 5 syllables • A traditional subject matter emphasizing nature and seasons, and how the seasons affect human lives.

6. Images in Haiku Poetry • An emphasis on images rather than explanation. • A structure of ideas based on a one-line image and a two-line image. • A shift in the scale of images, from a large-scale image (the world, or natural forces) to a small-scale image (a part of the world, a person or object), or vice versa.

7. The Social Dimension of Haiku • In Japan, the writing and reading of haiku is not merely a “literary” or “artistic” pursuit. • It is linked to broader cultural beliefs and practices—for example, a cultural life that is strongly linked to the passage of the seasons. • Because this form of poetry is culturally specific, we readers may not form the same response, or make the same meaning, as a Japanese reader of the same poem.

8. Social Dimension, cont. • For instance, a lot of Western readers prefer the strong speaker’s voice of a narrative. • This shows how context and personal experiences influence our reading/meaning making of a text.