To Say the Least: Short Poetry Forms

Haiku

In English, usually a three-line poem with a season word (kigo in Japanese) and a two-part juxtapositional structure (similar to using a kireji in Japanese) using objective sensory imagery. Usually fewer than 17 syllables (not in a 5-7-5 pattern—that’s an urban myth; in Japanese they count sounds, not syllables, so 17 English syllables is much longer than 17 Japanese sounds).

meteor shower . . . tulip festival—

a gentle wave the colors of all the cars

wets our sandals in the parking lot

Senryu

Similar to haiku, but with satire and humor. Where haiku usually celebrate their subjects, senryu might make fun of them, but can be serious in their satire too.

grocery shopping— at his favourite deli

pushing my cart faster the bald man finds a hair

through feminine protection in his soup

Tanka

A 1,300-year-old Japanese form, usually in five lines in English, often a love poem, but not always. Conveys overt but sometimes subtle emotion often with natural symbolism.

this is but a moonless night, I tell her I grow old

and my pillow has no tear stains— have a paunch and need new clothes

it is in the grocery aisle that the wild geese have flown

amid the frozen vegetables and winter is approaching

that I long for you —my mother laughs

American Sentences

A 17-syllable one-line spontaneous poetry form derived by Allen Ginsberg from haiku (but ignoring most of haiku’s traditional requirements).

Dyslexic bank robber’s note to the teller says “I have a gnu.”

“I’m exhausted honey. I’m so tired, I can’t tolerate my exhaust.”

“Daddy, are you broken?” asks my two-year-old. “You’re not? Good, then you’re fixed!”

I want life to have purpose, but my son says it should have a dolphin.

Sarah tells me that Thomas just did something that was badpropriate.

Limerick

A five-line humorous or bawdy nonsense poem with an A-A-B-B-A rhyme scheme.

There once was a man in Uganda, There once was a fellow named Ted

Who really deserved quite a handa. Who went to Rebecca and said,

       For he became lost,       “Please be me wife

       At very great cost,       For the rest of my life,”

While searching in China for panda. And now they are legal in bed.

Triolet

An eight-line form using two rhymes in the pattern of A-B-A-A-A-B-A-B. The first, fourth, and seventh lines are usually identical (although sometimes slightly altered), as are the second and eighth lines.

A Triolet for Envelopes St. Patrick’s Day

These envelopes need licking If you happen to go to a bar

For the endless bills I pay. On March 17 this year

The clock keeps right on ticking— Take care not to travel too far

These envelopes need licking If you happen to go to a bar.

And I need one good kicking For you shouldn’t drive home by car

Till I pay online one day. If you’ve had just a bit too much beer

These envelopes need licking If you go to a happening bar

For the endless bills I pay. On March 17 this year.

Cinquain

A five-line form invented by Adelaide Crapsey, with a syllable pattern of 2-4-6-8-2, sometimes titled, but not always. Amaze is an online journal for cinquains (see http://www.amaze-cinquain.com/).

Magic Inspiration Point

toddler, the song

offering me that just ended

her abracadabra, on the car radio,

makes all of my loneliness dis- will it now, as I stroke your hand,

appear be ours?

Clerihew

A four-line funny nonsense poem with an A-A-B-B rhyming pattern. The first line often names a famous person.

LeRoy Gorman John Stevenson

is the foreman reads a ton

of haiku as we know it of haiku every year

by every Canadian poet. while drinking sake . . . or beer.

Double Dactyl

An eight-line funny or nonsense poem, also known as a “higgledy piggledy,” in two stanzas with the fourth and eighth lines rhyming. Lines 1 to 3 and 5 to 7 employ dactylic dimeter, and lines 4 and 8 have a dactyl with a single accent. Traditionally, one line in the second stanza should be a single six-syllable word.

Other Short Forms

• ABC poem (a 26-word poem, with each successive word starting with the next letter of the alphabet)

• Couplet (two lines, usually rhyming, often in iambic pentameter)

• Epigram (usually a clever and memorable couplet presenting a wise thought)

• Hay(na)ku (three-line poem with one word in the first line, two in the second, and three in the third, with no restriction on syllable count)

• Kyoka (five lines like tanka, but more humorous or satirical, like senryu)

• Lune (three-line poem)

• Pterodactyl (what, don’t you know this form?)

• Sijo (Korean form of three or six lines with 44 to 46 syllables)

• For a collaborative short form, try tan-renga (a haiku by one poet followed by a two-line verse by a second poet, together making a sort of tanka).

Journals

Three good current journals for short-form poetry are Hummingbird, Lilliput Review, and Noon. In addition, there are numerous journals for haiku, senryu, tanka, and other short forms. For information about the Haiku Northwest group, please visit www.haikunorthwest.org.