Japanese New Year - Poetry

Poetry

The New Year traditions are also a part of Japanese poetry, including haiku (17 syllable poems) and renga (linked poetry). All of the traditions above would be appropriate to include in haiku as kigo (season words). There are also haiku that celebrate many of the "first" of the New Year, such as the "first sun" (hatsuhi) or "first sunrise", "first laughter" (waraizome—starting the New Year with a smile is considered a good sign), and first dream (hatsuyume). Since the traditional New Year was later in the year than the current date, many of these mention the beginning of spring.

Along with the New Year's Day postcard, haiku might mention "first letter" (hatsudayori—meaning the first exchange of letters), "first calligraphy" (kakizome), and "first brush" (fude hajime).

Read more about this topic:  Japanese New Year

Famous quotes containing the word poetry:

    German poetry is going in a very different direction from French poetry.... Its language has become more sober, more factual. It distrusts “beauty.” It tries to be truthful.
    Paul Celan [Paul Antschel] (1920–1970)

    For poetry was all written before time was, and whenever we are so finely organized that we can penetrate into that region where the air is music, we hear those primal warblings, and attempt to write them down, but we lose ever and anon a word, a verse, and substitute something of our own, and thus miswrite the poem.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    If there’s no money in poetry, neither is there poetry in money.
    Robert Graves (1895–1985)