The Rules of Baduk

[Joaz Banbeck]

Jasiek's poem appears
To have its syllables in arrears.
So lets try another kind:
It's easier to mind,
And more natural to western ears.

[daal]

Robert, did you actually read what a haiku was? The 3 lines have to contain respectively 5,7 and 5 syllables - yours has 6, 3 and 3.

Here's the criteria for an haiku in English according to wikipedia:

Use of three lines of up to 17 syllables;
Use of a season word (kigo);
Use of a cut or kire (sometimes indicated by a punctuation mark) to compare two images implicitly.

But, for a bunch of go geeks, I think we're doing pretty good

On the whole, I tend to agree with what Robert says:

I even read how it is in English and that there counts are not followed strictly, if at all, except maybe for the upper limit 17. Poem formalism kills contents and spirit.

It's the spirit and content that counts; no need to bother with the rules.

[Harleqin]

Mind ko --
Despite meanders
reach the sea.

[jts]

I think the problem is that the distinction between short and long sounds is not observed so tightly in English as in Japanese, so syllables it is. And also, if you counted terminal consonants as an extra mora, it would be hard to write anything. (I think if you look for translations of tanka, the translators are trying to hit 5-7-5-7-7 syllables, not beats.)

There's precedent for this... when English poets adapted classical poetic forms to the vernacular, they replaced metric patterns of short and long sounds with metric stress patterns. Such are the perils of cultural hybridization.

Westernized haiku
Deep-fried vegetables
O tempura! O moras!

[John Fairbairn]

And GoGod knew that all was good.

No. White 8 is bad.

[RobertJasiek]

How can any play be bad on an infinite board? War or bad moves are worries of finite worlds. As a complementary model, the infinite grid is a metaphor for our world.

[hailthorn011]

1.
The fall of summer
Met the demise of my stones
The gods have closed eyes

2.
Winter swept sente
Drenched in my kyu ignorance
Becomes frivolous

[rubin427]

lonley komoku
a clock runs in august heat
white’s chair sits empty

[Chew Terr]

lonely komoku
a clock runs in august heat
white’s chair sits empty

For some reason, this made me feel really, deeply sad for a minute, more than I normally feel from anything I read. All I could think of the tragedies that could have happened to white. Well done.

[daniel_the_smith]

(I heard that 3-4-3 did a better job of approximating the informational content of hiakus...)

Describing the process of teaching a passerby:


Black and white--
No, those are not
M&Ms.


Half of the
board, plus one. Don't
be greedy.


Your stones can-
not hold their breath.
Like, at all.


Nine is not
enough for you.
I don't say.


You have a
living group. That's
pretty good.


And a bonus:

Hurry, re-
sign while you still
have the chance.