Bash poem echo

.haiku.cfg

function unsetvars {
        unset word
        unset poem
	unset poems
        unset line
	unset counter
	unset linenumber
}


function getpoem {
        
	#get number of lines in file
        counter=`wc -l < $poems`

        #get random line number
        linenumber=$[ ( $RANDOM % $counter )  + 1 ] 

        #get the line
        poem=`sed -n "${linenumber}p" < $poems`

}


function echopoem {

        echo 

        #go through each word
        for word in $poem; do

                #if the word isn't a newline character, add it to the output
                if [ "${word}" == "/" ];
                then
                        echo $line;
                        unset line;
                else
                        line=$line" ${word}";
                fi
        done

        echo $line

        echo
}

function printhaiku {
        unsetvars
	poems=$1
        getpoem
        echopoem
        unsetvars
}

Readme

A simple bash function to display a poem. 

Pull the function from the .cfg into your .bash_profile by adding this line to your bash profile:

. ~/.haiku.cfg

Poems are to be stored in a textfile with one line per poem. A forward slash indicated a new line e.g.

This is line 1 of the first poem / This is line 2 of the first poem
This is line 1 of the second poem / This is line 2 of the second poem

The bash function grabs a random poem and echoes it out line-by-line.

The function is called 'printhaiku', it takes one parameter: the poem file. 

In my .bash_profile I have put the following line to display a poem every time I open a new shell:

printhaiku ~/haiku.txt

I've added an example poem file. 

haiku.txt

"The summer grasses: / of mighty warlords' visions / all that they have left." / [Basho]
"On my travels, stricken-- / my dreams over the dry land / go on roving." / [Basho]
"Ancient pond / Frog leaps / Splash!" / [Basho]
"Over the wintry / forest, winds howl in rage / with no leaves to blow." / [Soseki]
"A sudden shower falls - / and naked I am riding / on a naked horse!" / [Issa]
"Green frog / is your body also / freshly painted?" / [Akutagawa]
"Spring water in the green creek is clear / Moonlight on Cold Mountain is white / Silent knowledge - the spirit is enlightened of itself / Contemplate the void: this world exceeds stillness." [Han Shan]
"In my first thirty years of life / I roamed hundreds and thousands of miles. / Walked by rivers through deep green grass / Entered cities of boiling red dust. / Tried drugs, but couldn't make Immortal; / Read books and wrote poems on history. / Today I'm back at Cold Mountain: / I'll sleep by the creek and purify my ears." [Han Shan]
"Once at Cold Mountain, troubles cease - / No more tangled, hung up mind. / I idly scribble poems on the rock cliff, / Taking whatever comes, like a drifting boat." [Han Shan]
"On top of Cold Mountain the lone round moon / Lights the whole clear cloudless sky. / Honor this priceless natural treasure / Concealed in five shadows, sunk deep in the flesh." [Han Shan]