Analysis of What a strange thing

Kobayashi Issa 1763 (Shinano Province) – 1828 (Shinano Province)

What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms.

Translated by Robert Hass

Scheme XXX X
Poetic Form
Metre 1011 1101 011010 0101101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 89
Words 16
Sentences 3
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 3, 1
Lines Amount 4
Letters per line (avg) 17
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 35
Words per stanza (avg) 7
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 01, 2023

4 sec read
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Kobayashi Issa

Kobayashi Issa, was a Japanese poet and lay Buddhist priest of the Jōdo Shinshū sect known for his haiku poems and journals. more…

All Kobayashi Issa poems | Kobayashi Issa Books

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