Haiku the 5-7-5 pattern. Although the word ""on"" is sometimes translated as "syllable", one "on" is counted for a short syllable, two for an elongated vowel or doubled consonant, and one 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); and the word ""on"" itself, which English-speakers would view as a single syllable, comprises two "on": the short vowel o and the . This is illustrated by the Issa haiku below, which contains 17 "on" but only 15 syllables. Conversely, some sounds,
Haiku Haiku In Japanese, haiku are traditionally printed in a single vertical line while haiku in English often appear in three lines to parallel the three phrases of Japanese haiku. Previously called "hokku", haiku was given its current name by the Japanese writer Masaoka Shiki at the end of the 19th century. In Japanese haiku a "kireji", or cutting word, typically appears at the end of one of the verse's three phrases. A "kireji" fills a role somewhat analogous to a "caesura" in classical western poetry or to a volta in sonnets. Depending on which cutting word is chosen, and its