Natsume Soseki Haiku for National Haiku Poetry Day T-Shirt

Observed annually on April 17, National Haiku Poetry Day encourages all to try their hand in creativity. Haiku poetry is a form of Japanese poetry that is non-rhyming and usually consists of 3 lines with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5 The poem is from Natsume Sōseki, a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, kanshi, and fairy tales. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1000 yen note, so you know he is the bomb! The background is Mount Fuji from Momoyogusa–Flowers of a Hundred Generations (1909) by Kamisaka Sekka. Original from The New York Public Library. Digitally enhanced by rawpixel.