A vulnerable river pleads with the clouds to dry their wintry tears.
A vulnerable
river pleads with the clouds to
dry their wintry tears.
Now you try!
Here’s how to enter:
Enter your own haiku here using today’s Shakespeare word—vulnerable—to be entered into our giveaway! To receive additional entries, head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages, be sure to follow us, and tag a friend on our latest “12 Days of Haiku” post.
We will be giving away three sets of Shakespeare’s Words & Will’s Words. Three lucky winners will be announced 12/15/2023 on Instagram and Facebook!
Bells clangor a loud song to remind me of the time, cold weather says, “Shush.”
Bells clangor aloud
song to remind me of the time,
cold weather says, “Shush.”
Now you try!
Here’s how to enter:
Enter your own haiku here using today’s Shakespeare word—clangor—to be entered into our giveaway! To receive additional entries, head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages, be sure to follow us, and tag a friend on our latest “12 Days of Haiku” post.
We will be giving away three sets of Shakespeare’s Words & Will’s Words. Three lucky winners will be announced 12/15/2023 on Instagram and Facebook!
Yelping for joy, snowflakes drifting are interrupted by my sparkling smile.
Yelping for joy, snowflakes
drifting are interrupted
by my sparkling smile.
Now you try!
Here’s how to enter:
Enter your own haiku here using today’s Shakespeare word—yelping—to be entered into our giveaway! To receive additional entries, head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages, be sure to follow us, and tag a friend on our latest “12 Days of Haiku” post.
We will be giving away three sets of Shakespeare’s Words & Will’s Words. Three lucky winners will be announced 12/15/2023 on Instagram and Facebook!
Zany snowflakes, you cling to the branches of tall trees avoiding the ground.
Zany snowflakes, you cling
to the branches of tall trees
avoiding the ground.
Now you try!
Here’s how to enter:
Enter your own haiku here using today’s Shakespeare word—zany—to be entered into our giveaway! To receive additional entries, head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages, be sure to follow us, and tag a friend on our latest “12 Days of Haiku” post.
We will be giving away three sets of Shakespeare’s Words & Will’s Words. Three lucky winners will be announced 12/15/2023 on Instagram and Facebook!
Wind howling through the empty streets whispers to me, “Once upon winter.”
Wind howling through the
empty streets whispers to me,
“Once upon winter.”
Now you try!
Here’s how to enter:
Enter your own haiku here using today’s Shakespeare word—howl—to be entered into our giveaway! To receive additional entries, head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages, be sure to follow us, and tag a friend on our latest “12 Days of Haiku” post.
We will be giving away three sets of Shakespeare’s Words & Will’s Words. Three lucky winners will be announced 12/15/2023 on Instagram and Facebook!
Snowflakes scuffle through another blustery day and tickle my smiling face.
Snowflakes scuffle through
another blustery day
to tickle my face.
Now you try!
Here’s how to enter:
Enter your own haiku here using today’s Shakespeare word—scuffle—to be entered into our giveaway! To receive additional entries, head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages, be sure to follow us, and tag a friend on our latest “12 Days of Haiku” post.
We will be giving away three sets of Shakespeare’s Words & Will’s Words. Three lucky winners will be announced 12/15/2023 on Instagram and Facebook!
Watchdog moon, you shine as I block the bitter wind with my overcoat.
Watchdog moon you shine
as I block the bitter wind
with my overcoat.
Now you try!
Here’s how to enter:
Enter your own haiku here using today’s Shakespeare word—watchdog—to be entered into our giveaway! To receive additional entries, head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages, be sure to follow us, and tag a friend on our latest “12 Days of Haiku” post.
We will be giving away three sets of Shakespeare’s Words & Will’s Words. Three lucky winners will be announced 12/15/2023 on Instagram and Facebook!
Winter sun sets behind palms as moonbeams sprinkle the sandy shore like snow.
Winter sun sets behind
palms as moonbeams sprinkle the
sandy shore like snow.
Now you try!
Here’s how to enter:
Enter your own haiku here using today’s Shakespeare word—moonbeam—to be entered into our giveaway! To receive additional entries, head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages, be sure to follow us, and tag a friend on our latest “12 Days of Haiku” post.
We will be giving away three sets of Shakespeare’s Words & Will’s Words. Three lucky winners will be announced 12/15/2023 on Instagram and Facebook!
Hokku is a 13th century form of Japanese poetry that was originally the short, quippy opening for a much longer poem, the renga. Hokku, over time, became the little poetic form we all know and love—haiku.
Here in the 21st century, the best way to begin writing a haiku is to craft a sentence of 15 to 19 syllables. For this exercise, let’s begin with a word from The Bard himself.
That’s right, Shakespeare. “Cheer” is a word that comes from the French who borrowed it from the Latin “cara” who borrowed it from the Greek “kara” but all three translate to the word “face’ not what you expected, right? Enter Shakespeare. In many of his works, as with this line from Richard III, he uses “cheer” as a verb that means uplifting comfort or encouragement: “And cheer his grace with quick and merry eyes!” And his use stuck!
So with Shakespeare’s word in mind, let’s compose a singular sentence that creates a snapshot of winter using the word “cheer” like this one:
Stars high above, cheer (5) / on snowflakes parachuting (7) /winter in season. (5)
Count syllables and you will discover this sentence has 17. This means it will divide perfectly into three lines with the first line of 5 syllables, the middle line of 7, and the last line of 5:
Stars high above, cheer
on snowflakes parachuting
winter in season.
But what if this sentence was way too long for haiku form? As is the case with this 20 syllable sentence below, simply trim the three syllable word and you’ll have your haiku!
The stars high above me / cheer on snowflakes that twirl while / falling gracefully down to earth.
The stars high above me
cheer on snowflakes that twirl while
falling down to earth.
When the sentence is close, as is the case with these 16 syllable sentence, simply break into three lines as close to 5-7-5 as possible and, et viola!
Night Snow, Utagawa Hiroshige, circa 1833, The Met.
Now you try!
Tomorrow is the first day of December. We hope you will follow along as we explore Twelve Days of Haiku. Don’t forget to check in on social media for our December Giveaway.
