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
Strugnell's Haiku the poet's life. The first of Strugnell's "Three Haiku" is a eulogy to cherry blossom, which the poet thinks "looks really nice". In the second haiku, the poet laments his imminent baldness, comparing it to the seasonal fallen leaves and snow. In the last haiku, describing a November evening, the poet notes that "the pubs are open". Matthews's settings of the first two haiku are essentially pentatonic in melody and harmony. The first haiku is marked by Matthews as "with fervour, but soon becoming gentle and introspective"; the second as "delicate: like porcelain." In the second haiku the time signature