hey youtube Josh root from golden ratio content here today we'll talk about the four common characteristics of the haiku and also a little bit about why you may enjoy writing haiku some people meditate and some cry and still others make it rain on their local shrimp there's nothing wrong with any of these things but when I need to release tension I write it's not even about being sad or depressed it's often pinned up joy that'll make my head explode if I don't get it out on paper now not everybody's like that or maybe a better way to put it is this not everyone knows they're like that that's why I wanted to share this me be misunderstood art of haiku IQ is kind of amazing because it's not just an art form it's a form of meditation therapy and a healthy release of emotion it's also a great way to sharpen your brain if you enjoy nature and appreciate poetry the haiku is certainly forgiving the haiku allows for many different forms of art to be expressed but in the sphere of haiku i'd like to simplify what i have to say to four unique and specific goals these are common themes in both ancient haiku and modern alike the first characteristic of the haiku I'd like to go over is that it's always liked mainly in word density the feeling of lightness is called Kurumi it's the art of cutting the use of words to a bare minimum while retaining the fullness of its meaning the traditional form is three lines like so five syllables in the first line seven syllables in the second line and five syllables in the third line five seven five we'll take a look at one of Basho's haiku masterpieces that demonstrates this form in a moment the second common characteristic of haiku is nature nature is used to communicate complex lot motions ambiguous feelings and elaborate social dynamics are just a few of the things effectively communicated in the haiku poem traditionally these subjects are painted on the canvas of nature the poem may be a metaphor it may hold the weight of symbolism it could be satire blatant sarcasm or an abstract expression of love but it's nearly always demonstrated by something in nature which includes weather animals plants wind and whatever else you see in nature the third characteristic is juxtaposition if you've never heard of juxtaposition I'll tell you this it's not as complex as its name seems to imply juxtaposition is simply a contrast you place it in the haiku to surprise your reader or yourself when you come back to read it years later in describing the tranquility of a mountain you may refer to it as the shattering silence or say the silence was definitely the fourth and probably most important characteristic of the haiku is expressing feelings and emotions rarely is the feeling itself named a good haiku doesn't say I felt sad it says my life is cold and dark and dreary that's an excerpt from one of longfellows not-so haiku poems but an awesome poem nonetheless like all forms of good writing it shows the reader the emotion painting a picture and composing a song that resonates in the heart of the person reading it who has felt these emotions as well common ground agreement empathy that's what we're going for there's many other things there's many other things to be said about the haiku but this is more than enough to get you started at least it will be when you take a look at this beautiful haiku and find all of the elements mentioned above this haiku was written by the father of haiku himself Matsuo Basho frog haiku in Japanese and I'm sure I'll get this pronunciation absolutely completely wrong but it goes something like this kuru aqui há kawasu toby como Masood Naruto again I'm sure my pronunciation is absolutely awful but I can do this one right in English this is what it sounds like frog haiku a lonely pond and age-old stillness sleeps apart unstirred by sound or motion till suddenly into it a flight frog leaps now I'm not going to pretend I'm a great haiku poet or even a good poetry reader but if that shows frog haiku resonates with you in any way you may enjoy finding the elements of the haiku in this masterpiece of simplicity I'll add the main points and the Frog haiku in the description below and I hope it helped well that's all I got for you today thanks for watching if you enjoyed this video please like below and subscribe if you feel so inclined you