"Naked Haiku"
In this installment of the Field Guide we consider the use in haiku of nakedness. English has many words to describe that state, principally “naked” and “nude,” but also “unclothed,” “undressed,” “in the raw,” “au naturel,” etc. Related words for part-nakedness such as “hatless,” “barefoot,” and the like, also pertain.
“Naked” describes a natural state, but not the normal one. “Naked” implies that one’s usual clothing is missing or has been removed. “Nude” is applied mostly to the human form. As a noun, “nude” suggests a naked human being, especially a model for a painting, sculpture, or photograph. As a simple adjective “nude” means “[naturally] bare” and, more often, in the attributive sense of depicting or performed by naked people: “nudist,” “nude beach,” “Nude” has overtones of the artistic, even erotic, that are lacking in “naked.” Both terms can be used to describe inanimate objects as well, “naked” much more commonly than “nude.”.
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