For Better or Verse.

For Better or Verse.

The idea behind these came from an extract of a book featured in The Readers Digest. The concept, although simple, is much harder than it first appears. Take a classic book or play and sum it up in a Haiku. The Haiku rules are as follows:
One line of five syllables
One line of seven syllables
One line of five syllables.

I'll leave the titles out, all are famous enough for people to guess and I've thrown in some names among my examples.

A wicked old Jew,
Bested by words from a maid,
Lost his pound of flesh.

Much ado about nothing,
Never was a title more apt
Boring us for years.

What a bout it made!
Old man versus a whopping fish
But sharks took the prize.

There's no flies on him,
Bossing about some poncy kids
Someone gets the stick.

Take some 'nuts and 'bolts',
Add a limb from here and there
Poor mixed-up monster.

He plays Hyde and seek,
Slashing through brothels and streets
Then runs out of brew.

Mother and daughters four
In genteel poverty make
A twee little tale.

Apologies for the bad puns, but they are there to make a point. I enjoyed this exercise and will add to it when the muse strikes again.
Lisa.