The first hemistich which was composed of 17 syllables grew to be called the hokku, the second or finishing hemistich of 14 syllables was called ageku. From Wordnik.com. [Japanese Prints] Reference
In it, the concluding hemistich of the tanka is left off, and it is just in his hemistich that the meaning of the poem is brought out, so that the hokku is a mere essence, a whiff of an idea to be created in full by the hearer. From Wordnik.com. [Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan] Reference
The "hokku" is an even briefer form. From Wordnik.com. [Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan] Reference
We must reform hokku — we shall henceforth call it haiku!. From Wordnik.com. [Néojaponisme » Blog Archive » A History of Modern Japanese Literary Criticism: Act One, Scene 1] Reference
The only link that must be able to stand alone is the hokku, the "starting link" of the complete renga. From Wordnik.com. [MetaHaiku] Reference
A small selection of hokku (1) on butterflies will help to illustrate. From Wordnik.com. [Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things] Reference
Matsuo Basho Was the father of the haikai and the hokku, and his mantle descended upon. From Wordnik.com. [A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era] Reference
It must always be understood that there is an implied continuation to every Japanese hokku. From Wordnik.com. [Japanese Prints] Reference
The reader can now see for himself what the main object of the hokku poetry is, and what it achieved. From Wordnik.com. [Japanese Prints] Reference
He reformed the hokku, by introducing into everything he wrote a deep spiritual significance underlying the words. From Wordnik.com. [Japanese Prints] Reference
The most attenuated form of all is the hokku (or haikai) which consists of only three lines, namely, 17 syllables. From Wordnik.com. [A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era] Reference
The concluding hemistich, whereby the hokku becomes the tanka, is existent in the writer's mind, but never uttered. From Wordnik.com. [Japanese Prints] Reference
That is not to say, that, by taking the letter for the spirit, we should in any way strive to imitate the hokku form. From Wordnik.com. [Japanese Prints] Reference
However, there is nothing wonderful in the following hokku, which have been selected for more than literary reasons. From Wordnik.com. [Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things] Reference
Haiku is a popular form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, which evolved in the seventeenth century from the hokku, or opening verse of a renku. From Wordnik.com. [LearnHub Activities] Reference
Composing hokku might, however, have remained a mere game of elaborate literary conceits and double meanings, but for the genius of one man. From Wordnik.com. [Japanese Prints] Reference
In theory, the short-stop holds the same relation to the eight-line poem that the Japanese hokku does to the tanka, although of course it preceded the hokku by many centuries. From Wordnik.com. [Fir-Flower Tablets: Poems Translated From the Chinese] Reference
Afterwards, by the addition of the hokku, an abbreviation of the already brief renga and haikai, which adapted itself to the capacities of anyone possessing a nimble wit or a sparkling thought, without any preparation of literary study, the range of poetry was still further extended. From Wordnik.com. [A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era] Reference
(or hokku), containing only 17 syllables, even more sketchy -- hardly more indeed than a tour de force composed of a limited number of brush strokes!. From Wordnik.com. [A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era] Reference
It's a haiku (a type of Japanese poem which I always thought had to be restricted to 17 syllables, but on looking it up on the invaluable Wikipedia, I discover: "A traditional hokku consists of a pattern of approximately 5, 7, and 5 morae, phonetic units which only partially correspond to the syllables of languages such as English.". From Wordnik.com. [March 16th, 2006] Reference
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