Haiku Poem: Definition, Format, History, and Examples

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry made of short, unrhymed lines that evoke natural imagery. Haiku can come in various formats of short verses, though the most common is a three-line poem with a five-seven-five syllable pattern.

Defining haiku in terms of syllables and sentences becomes complicated once you translate the poetry across languages. Some translators argue that twelve English syllables would correlate more closely to the seventeen morae (sounds) called “on” used by Japanese haiku poets. Another structural difference caused by translation is that Japanese haiku are written straight across in one line, while English-speaking poets use two line breaks to separate their poems into three lines.

There is a typical structure that most English-language haiku poems follow. It is the five-seven-five structure, where:

1. 1. The entire poem consists of just three lines, with seventeen syllables in total.
2. 2. The first line and third line are five syllables.
3. 3. The second line is seven syllables.

Nature themes and imagery evoking a specific season are the traditional focus of haiku poetry. Haiku poems often feature the juxtaposition of two images. Here’s what else to look for in haiku writing:

1. 1. Kigo: Traditional haiku contains a kigo, a word or phrase that places it in a particular season. Signaling a season with only one word lends haiku its economy of expression. Some of the most classic kigo are sakura (cherry blossoms) for spring, fuji (wisteria) for summer, tsuki (moon) for fall, and samushi (cold) for winter.
2. 2. Kireji: Known in English as the “cutting word,” kireji creates a pause or a break in the poem’s rhythm. The kireji often works to juxtapose two images. Contemporary haiku may not always use a kireji, but juxtaposition remains a common feature of haiku.
3. 3. Nature and the seasons: Describing the season was the original purpose of haiku, and to this day, poets often focus on the natural world and how it changes throughout the year.
4. 4. On: A Japanese haiku contains seventeen on, or sounds. On are counted differently than syllables in English, which leads to translators’ lack of consensus on whether seventeen English syllables truly capture the spirit of haiku.

The haiku has a long and storied history, originating in Japan.

• Renga: Japanese renga was a poetic form popular in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Renga is a longer collaborative poem consisting of lines written back and forth by two or more poets. Renga was governed by a codified structure and complex set of rules and composed in a formal setting over a few hours. Renga began with a short verse called a hokku, which set the tone and situated the poetry in a particular season. This opening verse, often written in three short phrases containing five, seven, and five sounds, is the precursor to the modern haiku.
• Haiku masters: Sixteenth-century poets began experimenting with writing hokku on its own, without the renga. In the Edo Period (1603–1867), a reformist poet named Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) developed and popularized a more relaxed and humorous form of rengu called haikai. With greater ability for expression and variations in tone, Bashō and other reformist poets Yosa Buson (1716–1784) and Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828) found humor in describing seemingly mundane objects. During the Meiji Period (1868–1912), poets like Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) further popularized the hokku. In the nineteenth century, hokku came to be known as haiku and was a fully independent form of poetry.
• Beyond Japan: Haiku began to spread outside of Japan in the nineteenth century, first to the Netherlands and France and soon to North America. Imagists like Ezra Pound (1885–1972) found the haiku highly influential. Pounds’ famous poem “In a Station of the Metro” (1913) is an early American haiku, even though it does not follow the traditional five-seven-five line structure. Notice how Pound juxtaposes two vivid images here: “The apparition of these faces in the crowd: Petals on a wet, black bough.” Beat poets in the 1950s also took their inspiration from Eastern philosophy and haiku. Haiku (1951) by R. H. Blyth provided an entry to the art by offering translated Japanese haiku for English-speaking readers.

Matsuo Bashō is a master of the art form. Read through a few of his most popular poems, which perfectly marry the elements of haiku. Pay special attention to the last lines of the haikus.

1.
An old pond!
A frog jumps in –
The sound of water.

1. 1.

   A caterpillar,
   this deep in fall –
   still not a butterfly.

2. 2.

   In Kyoto,
   hearing the cuckoo,
   I long for Kyoto.

3. 3.

   Taking a nap,
   feet planted
   against a cool wall.

4. 4.

   When the winter chrysanthemums go,
   there’s nothing to write about
   but radishes.

5. 5.

   Teeth sensitive to the sand
   in salad greens —
   I’m getting old.

Follow this step-by-step guide to write the perfect haiku.

1. 1. Decide what kind of haiku you’d like to write. You can choose to follow the five-seven-five syllable style or decide you want to be more experimental with your structure and adjust the number of syllables. If you’re writing an English haiku, you’ll separate your poem into three lines. If you finish your haiku and find you want to keep going, you can use your haiku as the opening of a tanka poem. Haibun is another type of Japanese poem that combines haiku with prose.
2. 2. Determine your subject matter. Pay attention to small details around you. Nature themes are most common in haiku, so start to notice things like birds or leaves outside, the way the air feels, or even a smell in the air. Many haiku are about very simple natural elements of day-to-day life.
3. 3. Use short phrases that evoke strong images. Think of how Japanese poets use kigo and choose images that symbolize a season (say, fallen leaves for fall or daffodils for spring) to set a mood with very few words.
4. 4. Use a kireji or “cutting word” to create a break in the meter. Remember to use punctuation in conjunction with a kireji to control the rhythm of the poem.

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