Three lines and 17 syllables, the simple poem known as a haiku is getting a newsy update thanks The New York Times.
The publication created a haiku bot called Times Haiku, which crafts on the homepage of NYTimes.com in honor of National Poetry Month.
According to the Haiku Society of America, the 5-7-5 syllable structure of the poem is not a necessary arrangement. Correct haikus are supposed to have words that show the season along with a juxtaposition of verbal imagery.
“I think haikus are a great form of poetry because they seem so simple but they always leave you wondering if they have a deeper meaning,” said 19-year-old Zoology sophomore Annmarie Fearing.
New York Times senior software architect Jacob Harris created a system that searches stories for potential haiku words and crafts them into poetry. The bot scans each sentence using an electronic dictionary with syllable counts, according to the webpage, haiku.nytimes.com.
The machine also does not create poems from articles covering a sensitive topic.
R. Allen Shoaf, UF English professor, said a haiku is written successfully with the use of concision.
“Haiku’s I personally like are Haiku’s that practice great concision the most in a very small space,” Shoaf said. “And when I say the most I mean the most feeling.”
