2004 edition; edited by Johanna Brownell; Barnes & Noble Books publishers, New York; hardbound in black cloth boards with silver, gilt and red images and lettering on cover and spine; very good condition with unmarked pages; no dust jacket.
 
Description -
This is an exquisite book, nicely illustrated with with line drawings of flowers and even has a few blank pages at the end of the book in case you are inspired to commit a few of your own Haiku to print.
 
Readers will breathe the soft breezes of spring, feel the quiet touch of sunlight, and enjoy the chill of winter's first snow as these gentle poems transport them, briefly, to elegant landscapes.
 
The art of Haiku, one of the most striking and beautiful of poetic forms, was officially born in Japan at the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate c1603 - 1770. Originally known as haikai or hokku, this poetic form has always consisted of a three-lined verse of seventeen syllables, arranged in alternating lines of five, seven and five syllables each. The haiku style grew out of the popular pastime known astanka verse. But unlike the Renga, which was considered more of a game than a true poetic genre, the miniature haikai literary form eventually took on a life of its own. It was first elevated into a high literary form in the seventeenth century, while later artists revived and enriched its style.
 
Today haiku remains the most popular form of literary expression in Japan while its popularity in the West continues to grow. Included are poems for every season of the year. Edited by Johanna Brownell, this collection of traditional Japanese Haiku translates well for any lover of the form.