ABSTRACT
'The haiku form is simplea—verse of 17 syllables, divided into three lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively. The Western ear should note that the metrical unit is the syllable (Japanese is a syllabic language) and not, as in Western prosody, the foot composed of two or more syllables. The form of 17 syllables is not chance; it derives from the traditional view of Japanese linguistic philosophy that 17 syllables is the optimum length of human speech to be delivered clearly and coherently in one breathing.'
