Haiku

Haiku:
a Japanese poem with seventeen syllables.

Appropriate Poem Example:

A Ball of Snow

by Matsuo Basho

you make the fire
and I’ll show you something wonderful:
a big ball of snow!

Biographical Information:

The 17th-century Japanese haiku master Basho was born Matsuo Kinsaku near Kyoto, Japan, to a minor samurai and his wife. Soon after the poet’s birth, Japan closed its borders, beginning a seclusion that allowed its native culture to flourish. It is believed that Basho’s siblings became farmers, while Basho, at Ueno Castle in the service of the local lord’s son, grew interested in literature. After the young lord’s early death, Basho left the castle and moved to Kyoto, where he studied with Kigin, a distinguished local poet. During these early years Basho studied Chinese poetry and Taoism, and soon began writing haikai no renga, a form of linked verses composed in collaboration.

Interpretation of poem:

This poem is about the enjoyment of the snow and how you should have fun in it.

Visual Representation:


Explanation of Visual:

This picture sets the mood of the poem, because it talks about the wonderfulness in nature.

Citations:
http://allpoetry.com/poem/8490105-A-Ball-of-Snow-by-Matsuo-Basho
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/basho