Question

A Haiku contest rule says that the lines that could be used are any of the following rhyme schemes: a-a-a, a-b-a, a-a-b, a-b-b, or a-b-c. What does this mean?

Answer 1

Hint: Haiku is a form of a poem that owes its origin to Japan. It is a short poem that mostly uses imagery from the natural world. In the above questions, rhyme schemes are given in which Haiku can be written.

Complete answer:
Let us first understand what is the rhyme scheme is. Each poem has a writing pattern. Some poems use rhyming patterns i.e. corresponding sentences or lines of the poem have the same sound in their end syllables/words/phrases. Therefore the rhyming scheme tells about the repetitive pattern that we find at the end of the lines in a poem. It is only a three-line poem.

Haiku does not have a set pattern of rhyming. Therefore, the above question implies that a contest requires the Haiku to be written in the rhyming schemes given in the question.

i) A-a-a rhyming pattern will have similar-sounding words at the end of all the 3 lines. E.g. (doll,all,fall)
ii) A-b-a rhyming pattern will have similar-sounding words at the end of the first and third lines. E.g. (doll, run, all)
iii) A-a-b rhyming pattern will have similar-sounding words at the end of the first and second lines. E.g. (doll, all, run)
iv) A-b-b rhyming pattern will have similar-sounding words at the end of the third and second line. E.g. (run, all, doll)
v) A-b-c rhyming pattern will have no rhyming word at the end of any sentence. E.g. (laugh, cry,dance)

Note: Haiku has a maximum of 17 syllables: 5 in the first line, 7 in the second line and then 5 in the last line again. The comparison of a candle to the starry wonder of the spring sky by haiku master Yosa Buson is a good example of this. Poppy is about to bloom.