haikai

[ hahy-kahy ]

noun

, Prosody.

, plural hai·kai

1. an informal type of linked verse originated by Bashō, a 17th-century Japanese poet.
2. a poem of this type.

Word History and Origins

Origin of haikai¹

First recorded in 1880–85; from Japanese haikai (no renga) “jesting (linked verse),” from hai “actor” (akin to Cantonese paai, Korean bae, Mandarin pái ) + kai “harmony” (akin to Cantonese haai, Korean hae, Mandarin xié )

Example Sentences

John Cage’s “Haikai” takes structural cues from the haiku form, but you don’t need to know the scores to appreciate the spare, flickering ambiguity of the landscape.

From New York Times

She and the composer got married two years later and had a working honeymoon in Japan, from which sprang the orchestral work Sept Haîkaï.

From The Guardian

This now found a substitute in the haikai, which admitted language taken from purely Japanese sources and could thus be produced without any exercise of special scholarship.

From Project Gutenberg

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 Project Gutenberg

Matsuo Basho Was the father of the haikai and the hokku, and his mantle descended upon Kikaku, Ransetsu, Kyoriku, and other celebrities.

From Project Gutenberg