Haiku in Translation: Treasures of the Deep

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1. Haiku is a major form of Japanese verse written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5,7,5, and usually having a natural theme. Sometimes haiku are coupled into strings of two or more. What is the subject of the following haiku string? Opalescent rush Of milky iridescence Red-flush arms abound Crimson tinctures call Filmy white - silken candles Fall on shallow ground common squid mating octopus mood swings clownfish-anemone relationship coral death

2. Haiku are usually not rhymed, but you'll notice that I've experimented with rhyming techniques in this collection. Read the following string carefully. The creature described is commonly found washed up on South African shores. Determine which sea creature this string is referring to. Filmy shadow blues Colonize the speckled strand Tenderly deflate Upper margin hues Pink and green catch the sun, and Signal thus their fate red herring yellow-finned leatherjacket green razorfish bluebottle

3. Haiku are short poems, but that doesn't mean they have to be simple. A carefully constructed haiku can convey an incredible amount of meaning. There isn't much room to work with, so careful word choice is important. Read the following haiku, and notice the choice of wording. Which sea creature is being described? Dorsal spurs beware Let not brindled feather looks Malice thus belie catfish lionfish tigerfish porcupinefish

4. The purpose of this haiku collection is two-fold. First, it is meant to encourage the reader to explore the wonders of the deep, and to learn something about the diversity, beauty, and complexity of life in our oceans. Second, it is to involve the reader in the process of education. It is by no means a straightforward description, but a colorful use of language that will require the reader to engage in the process to solve the mysteries. Solve this mystery: what type of creature is being referred to in the haiku that follows? Vermilion fringe On sluggish bottom dweller Showy Spanish shawl sea cucumber sea star anemone nudibranch

5. Since we know there isn't much room to work with in merely 17 syllables, it often requires a fair amount of creative skill to capture the subject in a way that does it justice. The lines below highlight three important characteristic features of the sea creature described. What is the subject? Ternion pulse, this Marvel of (flam)buoyancy Sea chameleon parrotfish nudibranch cuttlefish sea dragon

6. One very effective creative device to think about when writing haiku is to choose words that accomplish multiple tasks at once. In this next haiku for example, one word in particular functions to express two important descriptive meanings. Keep that in mind as you make your choice for which creature is being described. Supernally this Cerulean nebula Radiates the deep moon jellyfish ice galaxy fish celestial pearl danio angelfish

7. The form of Haiku might seem restrictive to some, but there really are endless possibilities. New poets might even find that it actually provides a nice framework to get the creative juices flowing. It's also an excellent way to pick up some new vocabulary, if you do your homework. You might know something about the next subject. It is, after all, considered one of the most venomous known sea creatures. Read the haiku and make your choice. Prognosticating Death 'gainst shades of umber hue Cobalt circlets flash blue-spotted seasnake crown of thorns starfish blue-ringed octopus box jellyfish

8. Interestingly, the type of creature described in this next haiku was the subject of an entire series of over 1,000 haiku translated from Japanese into English for a book in 2003. What type of creature is it? Benthal candy cane Herringbone-like redlined white Holothurian stingray starfish sea cucumber pufferfish

9. Haiku are often epigrammatic, meaning witty or pithy. The following haiku is an attempt at a sort of epigrammaticsm. See if you can catch the wit, and in doing so, determine which creature is being described. Rooty tentacled Yellow namako scavenge Celebesian reef Found in a pickle Sticky threads (eviscerates) Grants itself relief yellow finned medaka yellow octopus yellow sea cucumber yellow-finned leatherjacket

10. Notice the rhyming in the following haiku. This is a very descriptive haiku, and each word is an important clue as to the identity of the subject. The creature described has been noted for some very unique behavior. What creature am I referring to? Backward bipedals Sulawesi mimicry Tiptoe coconut Warily settles Fabricated gimmickry Oval-shelled field hut coconut octopus oval-shelled crab Sulawesi seahorse bipedal squid