Jiveku

Haiku (Hokku) backgrounder, based on de honky translashun ah' wrote fo' Wikio'pedi

Haiku be a mode uh Japanese poetry, de late 19'd century revision by Masaoka Shiki uh de olda' hokku, de openin' verse uh a linked verse fo'm, haikai no renga.

A tradishunal hokku consists uh a pattern uh approximately 5, 7, and 5 mo'ae, phonetic units which only partially co'respond t'de syllables uh languages such as English - and da problem be considerably compounded in dis here mah' broda' tongue.

It also contains some special season wo'd (de kigo) descriptive uh de season in which de renga be set. Hokku often combine two (o' rarely, dree) different elements into some unified senso'y impression, wid some majo' grammatical bust (kire) usually at da end uh eida' de fust five o' second seven mo'ae. Dese elements uh de olda' hokku is considered by many t'be essential t'haiku as well, aldough not always included by modern scribblers uh Japanese "free-fo'm haiku" and uh non-Japanese haiku.

Senryu be a similar poetry fo'm dat emphasizes humo' and human foibles instead uh seasons. 

De Japanese language be mos' as rich in homonyms and o'dinary double meanin's as be Chinese and dere is engo, associated wo'ds risin' fum de same concept, occupy some posishun between our similes and metapho's.

Den take kotoba, some pivot wo'd employed in two senses - sometimes dree - dat shades into pun. Some Japanese poems gots so's many puns dat dey way gots two o' mo'e quite dissimilar meanin'. Kigo o' "season wo'd" be also some metapho' fo' de stages uh our lives.

A statement as t'de co'rect way t'scribble haiku is impossible.

Basho, de man and Poet

Basho, some gentle poet who wuz some masta' of "haiku," today be greatly revered in Japan and around da wo'ld.

When Basho came down on some little violet hidin' shyly in de grass on some mountain alleyway, it whispuh'ed its secret t'him. "Modesty, gentleness, and simplicity!" it said. "Dese is de truly fine doodads." Glistenin' drops uh dew on de petal uh a flowa' had voice and some beat fo' him likeswise. "Purity," dey sang, "is de loveliest doodad in life.

De pine tree, fresh and eva' green amid winter's harshest sto'ms, rapped staunchly uh hardy manhood; de mountains had deir message uh patience, de moon its beat uh glo'y! Rivers, fo'ests, boozefalls, all told deir secrets t'Basho, and dese secrets dat Nature revealed t'him, he loved t'show t'oders, fo' de whole uh livin' uh life wuz t'him one great poem, as uh some holy service in de shadow uh a temple.

"Real poetry," said Basho, "is t'lead some fine life. To live poetry be betta' dan t'scribble it."

Basho classics

From moon
Wreaded bamboo grove,
Cuckoo beat

Summa' grasses
All dat remains
Uh soldiers dreams

Clouds
Some chance t'dodge
Moonviewin'

Orchid
Breadin' incense into
butterfly win's

Sprin'
Drough mo'nin' mist
Whut mountains dere?

Autumns end
How duz mah' neighbour live?

Old pond
Leap
Splash some frog

-or-

Old pond
Some frog leaps
In booze's sound

Fadin' bells
Now musky blossoms
Peal in dusk

De temple bell dies away
De scent uh flowers in de evenin'
Is still tollin' de bell

Dusk
Dough last bells faded
Airs cherry rich

Wake down! Wake down!
Ah' gots'ta make dee mah' comrade
Dou sleepin' butterfly

Come closer
Look fo' de flowa' vase
Plum and camellia

Shall ah' knock
At Miidera Temple's gate?
Ah, moon uh to-night!

A cloud uh flowers!
Is it da bell uh Uyeno
Or dat uh Asakusa?

De fust cold shower;
Even de monkey seems t'wants'
A little coat uh straw

Bediggin' hoth de boughs
De soup wid fish and vegetables flecked
Wid cherry petals

De raple traveler walks on
Scratchin' where da lice bit him as sprin' comes t'a close not yet grown used t'wearin'
His swo'd in some protective case

Scent uh chrysandemums
And in Nara
All de ancient Buddhas

On some widered branch
A crow gots alighted,
Nightfall in autumn

None be travellin'
Here along dis way but I,
Dis autumn evenin'

De fust day uh de year,
Doughts mosey on down and dere be loneliness;
De autumn dusk be here

Lightnin' -
Heron's cry
Stabs de darkness

In de cicada's cry
Dere's no sign dat kin fo'etell
How soon it gots'ta die

Poverty's child
He starts t'grind da rice,
And gazes at da moon

Won't ya' mosey on down and see
Loneliness? Just one leaf
From de kiri tree.

Basho took a long journey on 16 May 1689, when he left wid his student Kawai So'a on some trip t'de No'dern Provinces. Basho and So'a haided no'd t'Hiraizumi, which dey reached on June 29. Dey den walked t'de western side uh de country, tourin' Kisakata on July 30, and began hikin' back at some leisho' manly pace along de coastline.

He completed da log uh his journey, De Narrow Road t'Oku, in 1694. It be often considered his finest achievement, includin' hokku likes:

Araumi ya
Sado ni yokotau
A manogawa

De rough sea
Stretchin' out towards Sado
De Milky Way