| ture is worth a thousand words. And in haiku, an | | | | words or so, he shows us with just one word! |
| image allows the reader to use imagination to "see" | | | | The power of haiku rests on its unique use of |
| with. Haiku lessons should help you understand this. | | | | imagery. And really, it's the juxtaposition between line |
| For example, take this haiku poem by Bruce | | | | 1 and lines 2 and 3 that create the poetics. For |
| Ross:sunset --a cormorant glidesinches above the | | | | instance, in line 1 we have the word "sunset." This |
| water | | | | first word is very important because it establishes |
| Here we have an image of a cormorant gliding above | | | | the scene and the time the event or action is taking |
| the water. But notice that the poet isn't telling us...he's | | | | place. Haiku poets call this part of the poem "the |
| showing us! This makes all the difference! This is also | | | | fragment." It's usually 3 words or less that indicates |
| what makes haiku poetry so special. The image is | | | | place or time. But having a fragment by itself just |
| just there for us to see. There's no judgement or | | | | doesn't quite do it. We need something else - |
| bias on the part of the author to tell us about the | | | | something specific that shows us what is taking |
| image. On the contrary, by writing in a "present | | | | place. And Ross adds in the beautiful phrase "a |
| tense" descriptive style, Ross shows us exactly what | | | | cormorant glides inches above the water." |
| he saw. | | | | Now, just reading fragment or phrase by itself, we |
| We also have an image of what time of day it is. By | | | | come away with a "so what" feeling. But, when |
| using the word "sunset," Ross shows us that the day | | | | combined, it creates a snapshot...an image that can |
| is about to end. Instead of telling us in a hundred | | | | resonate with the reader! |
