Beautiful, athletic

Teasing, shouting, laughing

Friend and enemy too

Mine

Summer

Sleepy, salty

Drying, drooping, dreading

Week in, week out

Endless

A fallen blossom

Is coming back to the branch.

Look, a butterfly!

( by Moritake)

Snow having melted,

The whole village is brimful

Of happy children.

(by Issa)

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that is made up of 17 syllables. It is not a traditional form of English poetry, but is very popular with English writers. It is easy to write and, like the cinquain , can give a clear picture and create a special feeling using the minimum of words. The two haiku poems (F and G) above are translations from the Japanese.

Where she awaits her husband

On and on the river flows.

Never looking back,

Transformed into stone.

Day by day upon the mountain top,

wind and rain revolve.

Should the traveller return,

this stone would utter speech.,

(by Wang Jian)

Did you know that English speakers also enjoy other forms of Asian poetry - Tang poems from China in particular? A lot of Tang poetry has been translated into English. This Tang poem (H) is a translation from the Chinese.

With so many different forms of poetry to choose from, students may eventually want to write poems of their own. It is easier than you might think and certainly worth a try

Unit 3 A Health Life

It is a beautiful day here and I am sitting under the big tree at the end of the garden. I have just returned from a long bike ride to an old castle. It seems amazing that at my age I am still fit