The English language can never fully explain the poetic genius of HAIKU MASTER. (If you speak HyperTalk check the stack script.)
This is a rough simplified approximation of how HAIKU MASTER works. Haikus always have 17 syllables. The Master takes at random an introductory word from the column 1, an adjective from column 2, a noun from column 3 (the subject of the poem), a verb from column 4, another adjective from column 5, and a noun from column 6 (the object of the poem-sentence), and then it starts from the beginning with another introductory word, adjective, etc. until the total syllable count is greater than 12. Then HAIKU MASTER carefully studies the syllable count before getting a concluding word. If the syllable count is 13, the Master gets a four syllable word from column 10, if the syllable count is 14, the Master gets a three syllable word from column 9, if the count is 15, it gets a two syllable word from column 8, if the count is 16, it gets a one syllable word from column 7.
Choosing words of more than 4 syllables for any of the columns might throw HAIKU MASTER'S delicate mind out of balance. When you add words to columns 1-6 remember to follow them with a comma and the number of syllables they contain. In columns 7-10 DO NOT use a comma or a number, but only a period. Notice that the nouns in column 3 are all singular and the verbs in column 4 match this singular form (“Dick RUNS”—instead of “Dick RUN (sic) ” or “Dick and Jane RUNS (sic)”) If you used the past tense, of course, you wouldn't have to worry about this (Dick or Dick and Jane RAN) but I felt like making present-tense haikus. You might try making a copy of this stack, removing all my words and starting from scratch with your own vocabulary.
You can pass this stack around with your own words in it separate from IF MONKS HAD MACS..., but if you have the complete IF MONKS HAD MACS... set of stacks please keep a stack with the original vocabulary list to pass out with that collection. (Ofcourse, you can include your own version of this stack too.) If you do not have and want the IF MONKS... collection contact BMUG. In IF MONKS..., unlike here, literature has meaning and purpose (but
it’s still fun). The collection includes an adventure game, illustrated interactive essays, a hypertext version of a masterpiece from the middle ages and a monastery cloister to read it in, and much, much more. It is all free, and available on 3 disks from BMUG for $9.
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