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To the angry car driver at Haymarket this morning...

(14 posts)
  • Started 14 years ago by Smudge
  • Latest reply from ruggtomcat

  1. Smudge
    Member

    "I too have a car,
    I am not queueing,
    you are."

    With apologies to all the "proper" Haiku poets out there ;-)

    Posted 14 years ago #
  2. spytfyre
    Member

    How about:

    I too have a car
    Look at me not queueing here
    Sucks to be you bud

    Posted 14 years ago #
  3. spytfyre
    Member

    "Haiku (俳句, haikai verse?), plural haiku, is a form of Japanese poetry, consisting of 17 moras (or on), in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 moras respectively.[1] Although haiku are often stated to have 17 syllables,[2] this is inaccurate as syllables and moras are not the same.
    In contrast to English verse typically characterized by meter, Japanese verse counts sound units (moras), known as "on". Traditional haiku consist of 17 on, in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 on respectively.

    Although the word "on" is often translated as "syllable", in fact one on is counted for a short syllable, an additional one for an elongated vowel, diphthong, or doubled consonant, and one more for an "n" at the end of a syllable. Thus, the word "haibun", though counted as two syllables in English, is counted as four on in Japanese (ha-i-bu-n). This is illustrated by the Issa haiku below, which contains 17 on but only 15 syllables. In addition, some sounds, such as "kyo" (きょ) can be perceived as two syllables in English but as a single on in Japanese. A word that illustrates both these issues is "Tokyo", which is perceived as having three syllables in English (To-ky-o) but four moras in Japanese (To-o-kyo-o).

    The word onji (音字; "sound symbol") is sometimes used in referring to Japanese sound units in English[4] although this word is no longer current in Japanese.[5] In Japanese, each on corresponds to a kana character (or sometimes digraph) and hence ji (or "character") is also sometimes used[5] as the count unit.

    In 1973, the Haiku Society of America noted that the then norm for writers of haiku in English was to use seventeen syllables but they also noted a trend towards shorter haiku.[6] This trend is borne out by the Winter 2010 edition of Frogpond, which contains haiku with an average of 10.5 syllables, varying from six at the shortest to 15 at the longest.

    Some translators of Japanese poetry have noted that about twelve syllables in English approximates the duration of seventeen Japanese on"

    I learned something today
    And that is: poetry of one culture does not fit into the play dough shape mold of another

    Posted 14 years ago #
  4. Ooh, what happened then?

    Posted 14 years ago #
  5. Smudge
    Member

    Nothing out of the ordinary, he was upset I crossed the road in front of him (as a pedestrian) at Haymarket so went daft tooting his horn and flashing his lights, so I then jumped on the bike and followed him out to the junction at Ardmillan Terrace where I passed him and got to sit on the ASL in front. (which I really don't think he liked :-) my normal route so not chasing, just going to work)

    Just another day in Edinburgh, but I was feeling mellow and mildly poetic :-)

    Posted 14 years ago #
  6. LaidBack
    Member

    at Haymarket so went daft tooting his horn and flashing his lights,

    Do driving schools not cover this sort of thing?
    I merely ask as he sounds like a young driver so should be freshly instructed from 'Drive me Bananas' or one of our many other great academies of motoring.

    Posted 14 years ago #
  7. Min
    Member

    I'm always baffled by how outraged some people get because you decide to get off and walk. Perhaps we could engage and direct their hysteria in a positive way into getting rid of all those hateful "cyclists dismount" signs that litter so-called cycle routes everywhere?

    Posted 14 years ago #
  8. spitfire
    Member

    How about:

    I too have a car
    Look at me not queueing here
    Sucks to be you bud

    Posted 14 years ago #
  9. spitfire
    Member

    Haiku" (俳句, haikai verse?), plural haiku, is a form of Japanese poetry, consisting of 17 moras (or on), in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 moras respectively.[1] Although haiku are often stated to have 17 syllables,[2] this is inaccurate as syllables and moras are not the same.
    In contrast to English verse typically characterized by meter, Japanese verse counts sound units (moras), known as "on". Traditional haiku consist of 17 on, in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 on respectively.

    Although the word "on" is often translated as "syllable", in fact one on is counted for a short syllable, an additional one for an elongated vowel, diphthong, or doubled consonant, and one more for an "n" at the end of a syllable. Thus, the word "haibun", though counted as two syllables in English, is counted as four on in Japanese (ha-i-bu-n). This is illustrated by the Issa haiku below, which contains 17 on but only 15 syllables. In addition, some sounds, such as "kyo" (きょ) can be perceived as two syllables in English but as a single on in Japanese. A word that illustrates both these issues is "Tokyo", which is perceived as having three syllables in English (To-ky-o) but four moras in Japanese (To-o-kyo-o).

    The word onji (音字; "sound symbol") is sometimes used in referring to Japanese sound units in English[4] although this word is no longer current in Japanese.[5] In Japanese, each on corresponds to a kana character (or sometimes digraph) and hence ji (or "character") is also sometimes used[5] as the count unit.

    In 1973, the Haiku Society of America noted that the then norm for writers of haiku in English was to use seventeen syllables but they also noted a trend towards shorter haiku.[6] This trend is borne out by the Winter 2010 edition of Frogpond, which contains haiku with an average of 10.5 syllables, varying from six at the shortest to 15 at the longest.

    Some translators of Japanese poetry have noted that about twelve syllables in English approximates the duration of seventeen Japanese on"

    I learned something today
    And that is: poetry of one culture does not fit into the play dough shape mold of another

    Posted 14 years ago #
  10. spitfire
    Member

    @Min - tell them they can feel free to get out and push their car past the lights?

    Posted 14 years ago #
  11. Smudge
    Member

    "I learned something today
    And that is: poetry of one culture does not fit into the play dough shape mold of another "

    Hence my advanced apology for my tongue in cheek doggerel ;-)

    Posted 14 years ago #
  12. gembo
    Member

    There was a young man from Japan
    Whose limericks didn't quite scan
    When asked why
    he said because I
    Try to get as many syllables into the last line as I possibly can

    Posted 14 years ago #
  13. haikutec
    Member

    Haiku have been successfully used to calm motorists who speed. I wonder if something similar could happen that would benefit cyclists as well?

    Here's a haiku about a motorist who still needed to connect with the outside:

    traffic jam
    a driver fingers the breeze
    through the sunroof

    Alan Summers

    Publications credits:
    Snapshots 2 (1998); tinywords.com (2002); The New Haiku (Snapshot Press, 2002); Travelogue on World Haiku Festival 2002 , Part 2 (Akita International Haiku Network 2010); Haiku Society of America Bend Oregon First Friday Art Walk (June 2011) & American Haiku Archives in Sacramento, California

    Posted 13 years ago #
  14. ruggtomcat
    Member

    I am particualrly fond of the Haiku Dungeon in Kingdom of Loathing

    Posted 13 years ago #

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