Haiku a phrase in the remaining 12 "on" (it may not be apparent from the English translation of the Issa that the first five "on" mean "Edo's rain"). In comparison with English verse typically characterized by syllabic meter, Japanese verse counts sound units known as ""on"" or morae. Traditional haiku consist of 17 "on", in three phrases of five, seven and five "on" respectively. Among contemporary poems "teikei" ( fixed form) haiku continue to use the 5-7-5 pattern while "jiyuritsu" ( free form) haiku do not. One of the examples below illustrates that traditional haiku masters were not always constrained by
Japanese poetry are a short, 3-line verse form, which have achieved significant global popularity, and the haiku form has been adapted from Japanese into other languages. Typical of the haiku form is the metrical pattern of 3 lines with a distribution of 5, 7, and 5 "on" (also known as morae) within those lines. Other features include the juxtaposition of two images or ideas with a "kireji" ("cutting word") between them, and a "kigo", or seasonal reference, usually drawn from a "saijiki", or traditional list of such words. Much of Japanese poetry has been transmitted historically through published anthologies, many of them