Poetry Form: Dodoitsu

 The Haiku Club    Eastern Poetry Forms    Dodoitsu

 
Description
Dodoitsu (都々逸 / quickly, city to city) is a form of Japanese poetry popular toward the end of the Edo Period (1603 - 1868).  Imitating folk songs it tends to focus on love or work and is often humorous in tone.  It consists of 26 syllables or less, commonly written in four lines of 7-7-7-5.


Example
Thursday afternoon is dead,
phones become silent and wait
until minutes before five
on Friday to ring
— Judi Van Gorder


Resources

• Wikipedia: Dodoitsu
• Examples on PoetrySoup
• Examples on PoetZoom
• Examples on Old Broke Bones

Thanks to Hanajiofcards for providing some great resource links.

If you know of useful books, links, or other resources not listed here let us know and we will add them.