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Perl Haiku Poetry Contest

ActiveState writes "Tell us why you love Perl. ActiveState is pleased to announce the ActiveState Perl Haiku Poetry Contest. Do you love Perl as much as we do? Then prove it with your passion, creativity, and wit! Categories include Best Haiku Poem Written in Perl and Best Haiku Poem About Perl. All entries will be featured on our website. Winners will be selected by ActiveState's Perl development team. Prizes will be awarded for the top three entries in each category and include licenses for ASPN Perl featuring Komodo Professional Edition, and cool ActiveState gear. The deadline for entries is 12:00PM PST, February 8, 2004. Winners will be announced on February 10. Full contest rules are also online. Good luck!"

38 of 306 comments (clear)

  1. fp.pl? by CptChipJew · · Score: 5, Funny

    open(heart_to_perl);
    content-type: haiku/firstpost;
    or die "i fail it";

    --
    Vonal Declosion
    1. Re:fp.pl? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Did you want first post?
      Alas, it wasn't to be
      Try python next time

  2. More flaming by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Perl" not "PERL", bozo
    Capital P E R L
    not acceptable

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  3. Other flames by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Purl Gurl, Gozilla
    Same person behind the name
    Uri, do you care?

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  4. the real contest by b17bmbr · · Score: 5, Funny

    if you were a real perl hacker, your script would be one line and generate its own haikus.

    --
    My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
    1. Re:the real contest by Frymaster · · Score: 4, Funny

      sorry windows guy
      perl trix are for unix kids
      try vb perhaps?

  5. Re:Right, bring it on. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    The middle line has to be 7 syllables to be proper haiku.

    All about Haiku

  6. too hard by utahjazz · · Score: 5, Funny

    haiku is too hard
    i can never remember
    how many syllables you are supposed to put in each line

    1. Re:too hard by epiphani · · Score: 4, Funny

      I think this is a ripoff from the linux fortune poem (paraphrased):

      There once was a poet named Dan
      Whose poetry just didnt Scan.
      When asked why
      Dan replied
      "its because i try to fit as many words into the last line as I can"

      --
      .
  7. More like pseudo-Perl by 3-State+Bit · · Score: 4, Informative

    IIRC Perl poetry does not need to be valid Perl, let alone have an interesting effect, but merely interesting English that happens to use only Perl keywords.

  8. How do you pronounce.... by Mrs.+Grundy · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've almost got a winner but what I really need to know, is how many syllables are there in: $_=~/[a-z]['")]*[.!?]+['")]*\s/g)

  9. Reminds me of Corn Flakes by dilby · · Score: 5, Funny

    Perl Perl Perl Perl Perl
    Perl Perl Perl Perl Perl Perl Perl
    Perl Perl Perl Perl Perl



    Lamness filter! Damn! Now how do I get past it? Don't know. Just give up.

    --
    This post patent pending.
  10. Perl in the real world by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wrote a script in May
    The damn program broke today
    Can't grok my own code

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  11. mmm..... by nutznboltz · · Score: 4, Funny

    absurd elephantine interpreter
    each version incompatible with the last
    god how i luv it

  12. My haiku actually does something by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    while S T D IN
    print dollar sign underscore
    close curly bracket

    1. Re:My haiku actually does something by Anomalous+Cowturd · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sadly, this won't work
      Missing opening bracket
      And semicolon

      --

      Java: the bastard demon spawn of C++ and Ada

  13. System maintenance by Anomalous+Cowturd · · Score: 5, Funny

    foreach keys %problems
    delete $problems{$_}
    Life should work like that

    --

    Java: the bastard demon spawn of C++ and Ada

  14. why perl should not be used to write software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This post is timely!
    I was just telling my boss
    that Perl is bad.

    The language is great.
    Expressiveness *and* power.
    bitch to maintain tho.

    and they write haiku
    in this programming language?
    boss, I rest my case.

    1. Re:why perl should not be used to write software by jefu · · Score: 4, Funny

      There's more than one way
      In Perl, to do it. But all
      Are unreadable.

  15. Mmm, interpreted languages! by adrianbaugh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Autumn: perl script starts
    C program runs so quickly
    Perl not done by spring!

    On the other hand...

    Perl script written fast
    Overflows still plague C code
    After many moons.

    --
    "'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
    - JRR Tolkien.
  16. Haiki rules by Larry+David · · Score: 5, Informative
    I looked through their rules, and even on their entry form and it just says haiki in the 'traditional 3-line format'. But I see no rules over syllables. Many people mistakenly believe haiki should be a fixed number of syllables, i.e. 5, 7, and then 5 again. But this only applies to Japanese, where a syllable can punch a lot more weight than in English. 'Traditionally' haiki also feature an element of the weather.

    Here's what the Oxford Dictionary folk have to say:

    The Japanese haiku must include kigo (season word). This is a convention in the Japanese art of haiku. But English haiku has no such word. Moreover, composers of English haiku are not required to strictly observe the 17 syllable rule. The Japanese haiku is written in a single line, but the English haiku is divided into three lines.

    It would have been nice if their rules could have had some tips for pedants like me. Do they demand 5/7/5? I am guessing not. If they wanted to get all traditional on our asses they could demand 17 kanji symbols, and I don't know how you can code:
    $x = "sck sck fe dolr";
    $x =~ s/sc/suc/g; $x =~ s/fe/5/g; $x =~ s/l/lla/;
    $x .= "luv u " . localtime();
    in Kanji.
  17. Re:Right, bring it on. by lambent · · Score: 5, Informative

    actually, there are several forms of haiku. Aside from the slightly more wild 7-9-7 and 7-21-7 we studied in my long forgotten college writing seminars .... haiku is more about style than structure. Small miscalculations in syllable counts were overlooked by the ancient masters. Indeed, dialect changed so rapidly over distances that pronunciations often changed. (imagine aluminum vs aluminium) And indeed, if you need to judge poetry using algorithmic rules, you're truly missing the point. For more information, check out this sweet right up at: Haiku@E2

  18. Re:Right, bring it on. by Mantorp · · Score: 4, Funny

    which SAT score
    would haiku writer miss more
    written part or math

  19. Hailku defined? by OzPeter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    With all the Haiku posts, I decided to head off to google and see what actually makes Haiku. My feeling was the 5-7-5 plus indication of a season.

    Seems that I am slightly wrong. The 5-7-5 syllabal grouping is accepted to be a Japanese convention where those breaks match the structure of that language. In other languages the the 5-7-5 doesn't fit as well, so you seem to be able to do what you want.

    Also the Haiku is generally considered to be an expression of direct experience with out attached emotion. So similie, metaphor and anthropomorphism do not see, to be well regarded.

    Two links that I just found and read are:
    The definition of Haiku by Alexey Andreyev.
    Another Attempt To Define Haiku by Jane Reichhold.

    -----------
    Is there another word for synonym??

    --
    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
  20. Re:Apologies in advance by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    One 'l' in Randal
    Like there's one 'l' in Larry
    RTFM, Newb.

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  21. My Entry by Sideshow+Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    My entry for this contest will be in iambic pentameter. And they better accept it because, in Perl, there is always more than one way to do it.

  22. Re:Right, bring it on. by Senjutsu · · Score: 4, Funny

    You suck at Haiku
    Everyone now sees your shame
    How shall I end this?

  23. Readability... by goldfndr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Larry Wall's language
    is not obfuscatory.
    Just need more coffee.

    --
    Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks: temporary loans from the Public Domain, not real property ("intellectual" or otherwise)
  24. Damned haiku... by Eosha · · Score: 5, Funny

    sometimes seventeen
    syllables ain't enough to
    express a complete

    --
    I have a girlfriend whose name doesn't end in .JPG
  25. Java Haiku by utahjazz · · Score: 4, Funny

    public class Haiku {
    public static void main(String
    args[]) { System.out.print(

    "too much preamble " +
    "this intro is so common " +
    "why can't it be short? "

    )}; }
    }

  26. Here by GonzoDave · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Soviet Russia
    Perl compiler debugs you
    Quick mention of summer

  27. only a VB programmer would think that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    perl and PHP?
    the comparison is loose
    just like your mother

    1. Re:only a VB programmer would think that by The+Clockwork+Troll · · Score: 5, Funny

      syntactic sugar
      rots the true programmer's mind
      study machine code

      --

      There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
  28. i love perl but ... by lemody · · Score: 4, Interesting
    from the rules :

    physically located in the United States or Canada (a "Qualified Individual")

    eh.

    --


    class he-man extends man!
  29. Many many types by phorm · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hmmm. A sad haiku?

    Taint checks I did ignore
    Open shell command with bad pipe
    My hard drive now gone


    A happy haiku

    Met a girl on chat
    Perl script calls me when she's online
    I will score soon now


    And self-completing plus poetic Perl, Perl, do you use
    To compile your own hai-kus
    Regexps fun to abuse

  30. self-listing haiku? by capologist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    use strict; use warnings;
    my $haiku_lists_itself; print
    `cat $0`

    Here's a real challenge:
    Write a self-listing haiku
    without such "cheating."

    Is it possible?
    I have no idea of how.
    I would guess it's not.

  31. And a transformation in the last line! by Christian+Engstrom · · Score: 5, Informative
    As I understand it, another key element apart from the number of syllables etc. is that the first two lines should paint up a scene, which then gets radically transformed in the last line. In the article where I read it, the example used was somthing along the lines of

    Seven black ducklings
    Walking towards the water
    Over the white ice

    The point here being that after the first two lines the reader would have assumed that is was summer, and made a mental image in green and blue summer colors, but after the last line, he has to revise that picture radically. (My own sucky translation of my faulty recollection of the Swedish translation of the originally Japanese haiku, so please don't take the example as such too seriously, but it illustrates the point, anyway.)

    In a way it works a bit like a joke: first you set something up, and then, at the end, you deliver the punch line.

    And this of course makes it more interesting to try to write haikus, because no matter how you count your syllables, you really don't have an awful lot of them to achieve all of that.!

    --
    Christian Engström, Former Member of the European Parliament 2009-2014 for The Pirate Party, Sweden
  32. I hate Perl by fuzzybunny · · Score: 5, Funny

    Big explosion in
    punctuation factory
    Result? Perl. Good Luck...

    open bracket, bang
    colon backslash asterisk
    oops, forgot a quote

    Finally, finished!
    Undefined variable.
    Camel book flies far.

    How do I do this?
    Answer: "Easy, just use perl"
    Programmer gets punched.

    --
    Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage