Let's review.

[conuly]

Haiku!

A lot of people on my friends list have been posting haikus that they have written. The only trouble is that those aren't haikus. Everybody's got the 5,7,5 thing down. What most people apparently never learned in elementary school is that, when writing a haiku, you must make sure that each line is its own complete thought.

Not a Haiku

The Bill of Rights says
"No laws about religion."
...Sanctity, you said?

Do you see the first line? "The Bill of Rights Says". That line cannot stand on its own. It's not a complete thought. This is not a haiku.

Now, this is only what I was taught. Other people have been taught differently. Google shows me this. You'll notice it says nothing about complete thoughts... but it says a lot about things which most people don't include. This site specifically says run-on sentences are a Bad Thing. Both sites make clear that the 5-7-5 thing isn't a great idea for the English language.

What to do, I'm so confused. New rule:

If it's not in Japanese, it's not a haiku.
Everything in Japanese is a haiku.
Because I said so.

And no, this isn't a haiku either.

Man, I am far too tired to be typing this. Night all. And Zarriq? Djusk' a!

Comments

[jean-prouvaire.livejournal.com]

Well, as I don't speak a word of Japanese, nor was I exactly trying to become the next poet laureate of the USA, and it is also two in the morning, am I exempt from the rules of haiku? :)

[conuly]

Yeah, yeah. I'm being a snot, not the ruler of the world :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Actually, the 5-7-5 thing is something most people have got wrong too. It's not 5-7-5 syllables. It's 5-7-5 stressed syllables. That means there can be more, as long as only 5-7-5 are stressed. At least that's what applies to Japanese.
I'm not sure about the next part, but I think that "The Bill of Rights Says" could be seen as a seperate thought. This is about thoughts, not about sentences. It's no separate sentence, no question there; but since "It's in the Bill of Rights." is a seperate sentence AND a seperate thought, AND means approximately the same as the first sentence, one could argue that it works...

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in my first Japanese class, the prof had to spend about half an hour explaining why a Japanese more doesn't translate well as a syllable. Like sensei, a word everyone knows, has two syllables, sen-sei, but four mores, se-n-se-i.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you, oloriel, as you sound knowledgeable; it was just convenient to post this after your comment. Cause I think it's interesting. :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

'tis ;)
Our prof didn't even give us half an hour. It was pretty much like "That's the way it is. Cope."...
Since then, however, I have given up writing haiku altogether. Not that I tried it often before then.

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

hehe, I forgot to mention that we had a few very thick skulls, and the poor nice prof felt she had to make them understand.

I used to write little haiku-like things, because I think it stimulates creativity to have to work within strict guidelines sometimes. But I would never show them to anyone!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I keep them secret, too. Except for one, which I had to do for English class way back in the distant past...

[eofs.livejournal.com]

I can't speak for all of your friends, but I expect a lot of them were simpluy participating in Blog a Haiku Day, the rules for qhich specifically stated that the only part that mattered was 5-7-5, he wasn't going to force people to obey the stricter rules.

Besides, isn't it meant to be...

Situation
Event
Result

Johan had a house
We wound up The Great Wizzard
Now we are dead. Oops

Like that.

[deceptica]

I had absolutely no idea what a haiku is when I was shown this page. I think that could be what inspired so many people to blog in haiku lately... and I don't think it really matters whether the result is a "correct" haiku or not, it's fun. :-)

[conuly]

Yeah, I know. I just like being persnickety.

[rpeate.livejournal.com]

If you feel compelled to change it, make it "The Bill of Rights says it:"

[zarriq.livejournal.com]

DAMN YOU!!!!

[conuly]

This is not haiku.
I tried to say what I know.
Why did you damn me?

[jean-prouvaire.livejournal.com]

Well, as I don't speak a word of Japanese, nor was I exactly trying to become the next poet laureate of the USA, and it is also two in the morning, am I exempt from the rules of haiku? :)

[conuly]

Yeah, yeah. I'm being a snot, not the ruler of the world :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Actually, the 5-7-5 thing is something most people have got wrong too. It's not 5-7-5 syllables. It's 5-7-5 stressed syllables. That means there can be more, as long as only 5-7-5 are stressed. At least that's what applies to Japanese.
I'm not sure about the next part, but I think that "The Bill of Rights Says" could be seen as a seperate thought. This is about thoughts, not about sentences. It's no separate sentence, no question there; but since "It's in the Bill of Rights." is a seperate sentence AND a seperate thought, AND means approximately the same as the first sentence, one could argue that it works...

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in my first Japanese class, the prof had to spend about half an hour explaining why a Japanese more doesn't translate well as a syllable. Like sensei, a word everyone knows, has two syllables, sen-sei, but four mores, se-n-se-i.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you, oloriel, as you sound knowledgeable; it was just convenient to post this after your comment. Cause I think it's interesting. :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

'tis ;)
Our prof didn't even give us half an hour. It was pretty much like "That's the way it is. Cope."...
Since then, however, I have given up writing haiku altogether. Not that I tried it often before then.

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

hehe, I forgot to mention that we had a few very thick skulls, and the poor nice prof felt she had to make them understand.

I used to write little haiku-like things, because I think it stimulates creativity to have to work within strict guidelines sometimes. But I would never show them to anyone!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I keep them secret, too. Except for one, which I had to do for English class way back in the distant past...

[eofs.livejournal.com]

I can't speak for all of your friends, but I expect a lot of them were simpluy participating in Blog a Haiku Day, the rules for qhich specifically stated that the only part that mattered was 5-7-5, he wasn't going to force people to obey the stricter rules.

Besides, isn't it meant to be...

Situation
Event
Result

Johan had a house
We wound up The Great Wizzard
Now we are dead. Oops

Like that.

[deceptica]

I had absolutely no idea what a haiku is when I was shown this page. I think that could be what inspired so many people to blog in haiku lately... and I don't think it really matters whether the result is a "correct" haiku or not, it's fun. :-)

[conuly]

Yeah, I know. I just like being persnickety.

[rpeate.livejournal.com]

If you feel compelled to change it, make it "The Bill of Rights says it:"

[zarriq.livejournal.com]

DAMN YOU!!!!

[conuly]

This is not haiku.
I tried to say what I know.
Why did you damn me?