Introductions to renga were hokku but eventually were separated out on their own. Later on, they were written intentionally separate and renamed haiku.
Seasons and cutting words (kireji - punctuation sound) have been traditional in these small poems but the last hundred years has brought about significant changes in subject. Of course, seasons were not always specifically named as they used other references such as blossoms (kigo) to indicate that.
Many scholars originally considered the Japanese Onji to be equivilent to English syllables. As a result, English version of haiku kept a strict rule of 5,7,5 in syllable count totalling 17. Modern scholars have realized the error in that judgement and have suggested that poets using the English language try to write the poem in less syllables....approximately 12 (but not more than 17).
TWO ELEMENTS:
There are two main elements in haiku composition. One is presenting a condition or situation; the other is surfacing a sudden perception or enlightenment.
These elements are placed in the haiku by using a "phrase/fragment" relationship between two lines and the third.
Example:
footprints
the crow hops
a mogul
The first line in this case is the "fragment" while the next two lines are the "phrase". They can also be written where L1/2 are the phrase while L3 is the fragment. Occassionally, L2 works with either L1 or L3 and that makes and interesting haiku with ambiguity and it can be read both ways... L1/2 as phrase or L2/3 as phrase.... other line will be the fragment.
This one has the same set up:
shards of light
a stone path weaves
shadows
L1 is the fragment while L2/3 are the phrase.
A different example:
the hummingbird
hovers a moment -
perfume
This one has the phrase in L1/2 while L3 is the fragment.
This one can be read either way:
canoeing
a duck travels
downstream
The understanding of how this technique works is extremely important in writing quality haiku.
KIGO:
This is the traditional requirement of referring to a season or New Years. But, it has been found through intense study by experts that many Masters including Matsuo Kinsaku (Basho) skipped the season referrence from time to time.
NATURE:
Haiku are, historically, about nature (though subjects have broadened a lot over the years). The poet sees something in nature.... and in the a moment of understanding, writes a haiku that reveals the image of that moment in clear and simple words. There are no words of padding; no convoluted wordiness. But rather, they were written with the fewest words possible ...... pristine.
KARUMI:
This is a Japanese principle expounded on by Basho that the haiku should have a light characteristic about it. Haiku are not dark. Basho once said "shallow river over a sandy bed"...... when describing the lightness of haiku.
KIREGI:
A word in Japanese that has a sound but has no meaning. It is used as a oral punctuation. The only equivilient we have in English is punctuation markings such as : ; - -- ... etc. Each of these has a tendency to give pause to the reader. And each one brings a different length of pause..... and sets aside one part of the haiku from the next... used at line breaks (at the end of one). Japanese use a sound to do this instead of written punctuation symbols.
SUPERFICIALTY:
To be avoided.
DETACHMENT:
A wonderful aspect of the better haiku poets. They are very clear regarding what they saw....... appropriately detached.... allowing the event to present itself "through" the poet's pen, revealing itself more than the haijin actively writing it through authorship and labor.
WITHOUT TRICKERY:
These should be written as an "observation of a natural, often commonplace event, in the plainest diction, without verbal trickery". (reference: On Love and Barley) There should be a sparseness yet with transcendant unity..... a moment, crystallized, distilled.
TELLING:
These are not poems of telling. There is more involved than that. There's a showing.... and a leaving something up to the reader to fill in... and all done naturally without creating trickery or a poetic puzzle. The author should "let the subject share itself". Again, the Zen thing!
SHASEI:
This is a Japanese term meaning roughly "on the spot composition". The Monk (poet) would witness something simple yet profound and write it on the spot. He/she would "reveal" a moment in time..... without interferring!
RESONANCE:
The poem should resonate for the reader. Written by observation in a simply and clear way, yet mysteriously has greater meaning when thought about over a few days.
IE:
two shoes
side by side
empty
This is a simple observation of something that is real.... two shoes sitting on the floor...etc. Yet, it also resonates to the reader deeper and richer meaning.......... the cleaner the write, the richer the resonance..... very often.
SENRYU:
In the seventies there was a major committee that completed a thorough study of haiku and senryu differences. It was so hard to define a senryu completely based on historical evidence that they exclaimed " whatever doesn't qualify as a haiku, is a senryu"...!!!!!! hahahaha.....
SOME HAIKU TO READ: From the Masters.
Shiki, a well known haiku poet wrote several hundred haiku without relating it to a season etc. Such as the following two.........
"heaven and earth's
supporting column
Mt. Fuji"
"peeping into sight
at the mountain's foot a hut
ah, good water"
KEEP IN MIND that haiku is basically an "expression of a moment of vision into the nature of the world and the world of nature". Blyth
In late sixteen hundreds, Shushiki wrote:
"seen in a dream
even awakening--color
of blue flag"
Yoshimura wrote:
"try changing to
another color of lipstick
spring rain"
(hahahaha..... a modern guy that got the
season in anyway.....hehe)
Basho (Matsuo Kinsaku) 1849 to 1899.....
a) on the dead limb
squats a crow-
autumn night
b ) skylark sings all
day, and day
not long enough
c) no moon, no flowers
no friend -
and he drinks sake
d) old legs, still eager
for Yoshino's
flowering slopes
c) Spring air
woven moon
and plum scent
(of course, these are translations from Japanese Onji.... written originally in English they come off a little different sometimes)
THREE OF MY RECENT HAIKU:
on the bed
a sleeping dog
runs
dark winter night
the moon peeks through
a torn cloud
on his nose
a koi balances
the moon
Haiku are fun and great little moments of vision. Old tradition or new, they provide a wonderful way to express magical as well as quaint moments in time.
I write some of old tradition and some of new. It's all in good fun and for sharing personal moments and imagery.
Thanks so much for your time.
Don
Haikumonk
Dean of Education
Site Supervisor
Introductions to renga were hokku but eventually were separated out on their own. Later on, they were written intentionally separate and renamed haiku. Seasons
Included in the list
Add a comment
Comments
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Awesome!!!
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a great article
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Thanks so much!!!
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de nada, I need to read as much about them as I can, so I can improve, and judge my contest with at least a speck of 'ku knowledge..... Some people are already getting ruffled at my suggestions...
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SHASEI makes a good deal of sense
when coupled with the idea if detachment
"heaven and earth's
supporting column
Mt. Fuji"
the greeks had Atlas -
Domo arigato
Many thanks
with heart. -
so much to learn
so little time
my watch stops
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Enlightening, how very misled I have been!
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thank you.
This is very helpful.
I will give it a try. -
I hope I can get the hang of this. I really want to write it good. I think I have to observe "The moments" instead of the whole picture.
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Very informative and exciting, I can't wait to complete your class and continue on my haiku journey.
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Thanks Don,
I am learning much about Haiku from reading your works and columns. This is very helpful, and gives me a clearer understanding of this beautifully complex form.
Michael -
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Thanks Michael.... much appreciated. Happy Ku'ing
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Thank you for this great information. I have fallen in love with Haiku's and am trying to find out as much as I can, this is very helpful. Thank you again.
Jen -
Thank-you so much for taking the time to write and share this essay. I found it very educational. Haiku used to intimidate me now I can not get enough. Thank-you J.
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this is why I came back to this site
superb educational essay on a beautiful poetry form
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Thank you and thank you all for the great comments!!!!
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Thank you, haikumonk, for this very clear and stimulating expanation of a simple subject that often seems submerged in complexities!
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Hi Haiku Monk...it was wonderful to read these notes and refresh myself on the techniques of writing haiku. I have posted a new one and would love your expert comment/opinion? It is called "full moon"...miss you all..suzy (aka "Follow the Light")
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It's somehow magical to learn that I'm not doing the Haiku thing wrong.
For me Haiku have ALWAYS been a capure of a zen moment, flowing naturally from a moment of inspiration. A thought, a vision, an observation, an idea.
Though I always slave over the last line... that final 'ah-ha' to get the impact just right.
I think Haiku is one of my fave. Forms. Thank youfor your collumn that sheds some additional light on this little gem. -
I miss your classes. There were three of them I think, and they were all so fun!
I remember reading this column and joining a haiku contest you hosted, since then I got hooked
Ah those good times here in AP...
Big hugs Don
Mari
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Great column! Very interesting to learn a little about the shift down in syllables over the past century and about the SHASEI especially, as I have always been under the impression that haiku is in-the-moment and not something to slave over.
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Thanks..... glad you enjoyed it! I didn't know it was even featured.... LOLL Fun stuff........
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Ah! Now I understand why there are suddenly more folks joining in the haiku class here at AP :-)
How very sweet on a day that everything went wrong, to login here, and find this column is Featured! Beautiful aha moment I experienced in my heart. Am happier now
I have met a wonderful lady who is a haiku personality all by herself. Do you know of Gabi from Japan who maintains the World Kigo Database? If you'd like, I can get you in touch with her. She has LIBRARIES of Information on writing haiku in her mind and is such a nice lady, she will share all her knowledge with just about all of us who are in her group.
Did you know that the 9th World Haiku Festival is going to be held in Bangalore, India between Feb 23rd-25th'2008 and I am invited :-) The organiser of this festival happens to be staying in the same city where I am staying.,..we are yet to meet, but I am so excited about this upcoming event!!
((Hugs))
Charishma
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hahaaaa.... Hey Charishma... sounds like things are going great. Keep up the "haikuing"....
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Thank you for a more in-depth introduction, and the several quoted haikus, old and new. There is so much more than the 5-7-5 introduced (and not expanded on since) in 4th grade! I have so much to learn! Thank you for giving me direction to the path, sensai (at least, that was how my old teacher pronounced it).
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Hi Mirthryl.... glad you enjoyed the column. It needs some re-working as I look it over today.... but it still brings much of what you need to the table to write a decent haiku.... and to understand what the old masters were trying to do..... or really, in fact, doing! lol Thanks again for coming by to comment.
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hello
this was very helpful, of course with trial and error i will get better. but i've picked up a lot of information about haikus that i either didn't know or really understand.
thanks -
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Thanks so much...... happy "haikuing"......
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hello,
I am maa ...
I would like to thank you for your wonderful column about haiku ...
I must admit that I have always felt frustrated to write this form, until I enrolled in the haiku-class initiated by you and taken over by charishma, who does an excellent job in teaching me ...
I have done half of the lessons, and for the first time in my life, I feel joy about composing haiku ...
still doing a lot of "don'ts", but learning through error ... and through the loving guidance of charishma ...
your column is an essential pillar for me ...
I thank you so much ...
many blessings,
maa -
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Thank you so much for your kind words. Hope you "haiku" a lot in the future..... remember.... don't criticize your haiku as much as you write them.... just observe nature and report it in a haiku moment.... simplle as that.
Take care.....
Don -
Thank you for coming by. I'm glad this little column helps you. Good luck with your future haiku writes..... they are addictive, though. LOL
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great column-it helps a lot!
pegleg -
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Thanks!!!
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It is wonderful to drop by this page after so long once again Many good wishes to you this New Year.
Char
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I'm glad you enjoyed it. That reminds me, I have to come back here an update it some.
Thanks again for reading and commenting. Much appreciated.
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Excellent
haikumonk:
you have really opened my eyes! It seems you can use no punctuation and punctuation in writing haiku, senryu, ect ....
I believe it involves the effect that is desired to be portrayed. This is what struck me the most about your writing. Thank you very much. -
I so enjoyed this column.In reading it I had to delete a few haiku and rework others.The information you gave was very informative and helpful.I bow to you teacher.
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I agree with you fully. I grabbed a couple that now seem to have been translated very poorly. In the near future I'll either retranslate them or find a couple others. They worked for the moment when this was written.
Thanks for your input. I always admire your ideas and haiku skill.
Take care,
Don -
excellent resource
hi Don - Anasuya had this link at the bottom of her haiku contest, so i decided to come along and read your take on haiku.
i enjoyed reading your ideas on the ingredients of haiku very much. the way you described and talked about these was clear & easy to comprehend. i think that people new to haiku could read this & learn the basic as haiku very quickly - so i commend you for this clarity.
many of the haiku examples were good too although i thought Seisensui's seemed a little cluttered & clumsy:
"over the one-log bridge
a child comes
a dog comes: morning"
this was of some concern to me, espcially as it was the first of the japanese haiku to be quoted in your marvellous essay. i wonder if it was just badly translated, as this one by Shiki seems to me to be:
"peeping into sight
at the mountain's foot a hut
ah, good water"
maybe i'm wrong about these two. what do you think?
in haiku friendship & with respect,
myron.
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wow i think this about says it all. i think if after reading this well penned resertation on the hiaku anyone can write one and if they cant then they missed something in the reading. i was introduced to this artical via a hiaku contest now going on where the link to this page is posted. that was shere briliance on the part of the contest holder to recomend this as reading. i am going to attempt to write one for the contest. i do hope that when i have written it you will come and read it and tell me how i have done. i have a few haiku's on my ap page, but personally i think they are all pretty bad. i think i shall try again and hope for something that works. wish me luck and i hope we can exchange critiques in the furture. your friend and fellow writer M.C. ps thank you for the help this page offers i am going to book mark it for future reference
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exellent
I am fascinated by the form and have only just discovered Haiku
I have only written a few but found it is having a profound effect on my poetry I find I am honing and removing words from
that too.
Thank you for this page of explanations I will have to re read
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Hey.... glad you enjoyed it... I'm working on its revision right now.... should have it ready after the first of the year..... or so....
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Very descriptive
Wow! This is very educational for me
I was referred here by a friend, whose Haiku I commented on.I nevr knew all of these different types or new rules existed.Thank you for the most rewarding read.I enjoyed it very much.
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Very impressive Column. Now I see -why- you're the Dean of Education
Peace
*Lust* -
We all have our understandings and resulting opinions. Thank you for yours.
One of the main concepts of writing a haiku is to use daily, simple words.... ones that the commoner would use. These people were monks, reporters of what is, if you will and reported things and situations in simple haiku form without disturbing what was there nor changing it. The Zen is not that object but rather the haijin's attitude toward the object. If the haijin saw a rock... he said a rock. If he saw a star, he said a star. It was then and also not now never the role of the haijin to create poetry per se but rather to use poetry (haiku) as a form of reporting to others what he saw.
Then, the resonance. The more talented haijin were adept at writing simple things that also carried deeper meaning... or scene resonance..... a haiku that was thought provoking yet simmple to read and understand.
Hey, thanks again for reading.... take care.
Don -
two shoes
side by side
empty
this sounds very un-zen to me... kind of negative... but yet possitive for the shoes are together... yet empty... yet the negative... empty is a shallow word... this is how i feel... uh... no offence...
tell me about... this
Worm becomes a bird
Snake eats the bird
Nest becomes a den
?
Doug
Edited on Sep 27, 1:30 because ''. -
It was just suggested to take a look at your column. I see my haikus haven't been too far off. Thanks for writing this. It was very informative.
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learning new types of poetry, different forms so bear with me .. looks like fun...Linda
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Hey thanks for letting me know. No one else would tell me. Thanks a lot!
-Principessa -
This is an excellent page....I learned so much here. Thanks for the insight!!
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Thanks for posting that! It's really helpful. I went for a walk through the park at half past four in the morning yesterday, and it was beautiful- silent, the air was clean, the dawn chorus was in full swing... I have to confess it won't have been written on the spot :s but I was inspired to write about it, so I just thought I'd read a bit about haikus first. Thanks again for posting Keep writing
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This column is probably the simplest explaination I have read on Haiku so far, and I have been looking up sites by the dozen. I seem to be fixated on getting to grips with haiku recently and rework them to death every time I look at them, but somehow the essence seems to be eluding me, the true gem of inspiration for the aha monment just doesn't arrive too often and when it does I think the wording is not simple enough. Is there such as thing as being too descriptive in trying to fit great meaning into few words?
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dark winter night
the moon peeks through
a torn cloud
I love that you can picture it when you read it -
Itchy fingers here lol
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A friend sent me this link and I am so pleased with the information you have shared here. Haiku poetry makes me a bit nervous and I am never sure if I have done one properly.. I hope to get a better understanding after studying your post. I have it bookmarked and look forward to exploring it in further detail.
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enjoyable and educational
a-saw... thank you for imparting your wisdom on this interesting topic.
of wisdom i was needy
my haiku, it was weedy
now i will thank thee
because thou helped me -
i remember learning haiku in school - and it being this very strict form which i never really enjoyed because i never really understood it. i think i've gotten past that now. at least, enough to try my hand at it again. thanks for providing a column which helps me understand the beauty of a form i once did not.
illusions -
hey.. thanks... good luck with them.... I still revise ones I wrote three years ago... lol....
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Thank you for sharing this information. I will have to look at my few haiku and possibly re-write some of the lines.
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wow!!! ...... thank you very much monk!! i learned alot!!! mentor!!hehehe
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This is all new to me. I can't wait to start trying it out.
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Great work very deep and helps open a lot of minds to a new way of seeing things lots of love Robin...aka SH
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One thing that I know is really short poems are harder to write than longer ones are. Most of mine are fairly short, but I have no plans to try and write a haiku--I don't have the discipline to write them.
Damon D. Brewer -
thanks for writing this! you gave me a whole better view of what the haiku is and how to write it. not sure i have it in my talent... but at least i know how to do it.
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To me, haiku has always been a mystery. How someone can write so little, and show so much. Learning about it is a little scary, because I'm a little worried that the mystery of it will vanish. But nonetheless, I want to learn. And your explanation here is very helpful.
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so much wonderful information here...thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom suzy
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wonderful information and insights into japanese poetry. i continue to learn from you i hope to continue learning and growing into this artform. thanks so much.
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Just refreshing my memory Don
This is a continual process, the whole poetry thing is really, but when you write in a form, a condensed form at that - you just have to open your mind and keep learning.
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All is well presented and inspiring. Thank you. I look forward to my attempts at this art form.
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Very informative column you've written here! I know more about haiku now than I did in the past. Thank you very much. I enjoy your class so far and I look forward to the remainder of the sessions
~CT -
I understand what you mean when you say the clearer the write, the richer the meaning behind the right. It's all about drawing the reader a perfect mental picture with as rich a content as you can.
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great information yopu have given us to help in our haiku and tanka writing. lots of information to absorb and use!
thanks!
bobby -
Wonderfully concise and informative with some great examples as a starting point. Thank you.
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There is something about haiku that I am now noticing. The poems are so small, and yet require the application of so many concepts. However; in the end, after all the wording is done you are left with a poem that is the essance of simplicity and appears to be; if anything, easy.
The information here is helpful and conductive to learning and hopefully I will be able to retain the concepts and improve in the complex writing of simplistic poetry.
Best wishes... ~genielassie~ -
i was pointed to this article to read and i am glad i did. Even after taking your Haiku class I still find reading your lessons fascinating. You make things so clear and i am definitely going to develop my knowldge of haiku some more!
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When first trying to read and understand haiku, the information seems daunting, yet really, it couldn't be more simple. It seems to be about seeing a situation in the mind's eye, reporting it in the least words possible, yet allowing your reader to interpret it without too much of a struggle, it should be instantly a picture that is very plain to see from your readers point of view. Mostly it would be about a happening to do with nature that affects the mind in such a way, it is startling and instantly conjours up the words necessary to show your reader what you see and feel.
This article is very informative
~Katie~
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Wow, a lot of information to take in here! A very informative article, I think I'm a little more comfortable with writing haiku now. Basically, all I was taught is "use the 5-7-5 syllable thing and you'll be fine". So I really learned a lot from reading this, I'm glad it was pointed out to me! Thank you!
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I enjoy having to use my mind writing poetry...Haiku is more of a study with a twist...(sorry if I dont explain myself too well). Thank you for the concise explanation Lynne
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Even after having taken your haiku class, once again I find myself gaining snippets of useful and well received information from your storehouse of knowledge. Many thanks.
♥ Kimberly -
very informative piece Don
do not despise the snake for having no horns
for who is to say one day it may become a dragon
here's to learning from the master artist
~ col
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I have been stumbling around in confusion with this form for some time now due to the fact that I am told through comments 'haiku must be done in 5 7 5' then 'no, you may lessen the syllables' and back and forth on this until I am in a spin. Your instruction is clear and most helpful. I am so glad I was sent your way in my quest to learn this form. The help and information here is very much appreciated.
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thanx 4 sharing this with me ..i will continue to improve my haikus have a great christmas!!
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That was a very informative and beautiful lesson! Thank you, Sir, for sharing it.
UPDATE:I have read this long back the day I got interested in haiku. Now, it is nearly 2 months since I started writing in this form. It was certainly very nice to be refreshed once again with the techniques to be used in haiku writing and how the essence of the moment has to be zoned in and captured, then put down with an Aha moment at the end{but there is no end...haikus are open-ended and I admire this form of writing alot}. You continue to inspire me with your talent and skill at haiku and tanka. I think I have commented on all except one or two of your haikus. I am most amazed by the one on the photograph which is half buried in the sand...and that has made me think for the last two weeks or so. There is alot of information that a haijin can pack in three lines and not all can do it. You are the finest I have read so far, a master {honcho} as they say, in Japan and I bow before you
Thank you for being so kind and generous with everything you do, all the haiku knowledge you impart, for reading and commenting on my haikus...I appreciate it more than I could ever say. You certainly are the best!
Best wishes always,
Charishma
Edited on Jan 26, 11:22 because 'Update of my comment'. -
thank you.
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Hey...... this great. I'm glad you found this little column. It is good for starters.........but then....lol.... the work begins.
Don -
Hey Don -
I knew this was here somewhere. Now I have copied it so I can look at it more closely at work. I really do want to find these.
I look forward to your class.
Susan -
Don't try to fix a rule on syllables. I've seen them with only 5 and they worked well. Onji are syllable/consanont pairing.. such as wa... ka... etc. They all have the same length of sound. In English it's different. For example: the word "hour" is only one syllable but sounds like two. So we may have only 17 syllables but have way more than that in sound. Very important situation to be aware of but not to make a "rule" by. The word "it" is short compared to the word "hour"... you see? That problem does not exist in Japanese. I would keep the haiku in 17 or under syllables in English. But, if it comes up one day you need an extra one... well then, go for it. Don
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Oohh that was very informative, it told me more than what i thought i actually needed to know. Just so i know i've understood what i came here to find out... because its a Japanese form the syllables need to be translated, they originally thought 17 to be right, they now think 12 is more like the answer. So am i right in saying anything between 12 and 17 is ok? Or is either 12 or 17 only acceptable. Sorry i just have to double check that one. Thanks for the help though
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excellent!
I'll try to find the site I read this, but an excellent history of Haiku's was presented there.
On thing I do remember when I was reading on the Haiku's was that it was supposed to be the second line that contained a reference to the season. Have you also found that?
One of the first major changes in the Haiku came in the 14-1500's Europe when it became the fashion of the nobility to write these. In France this is where the change came, was to start removing the differences from the Haiku and Senryu to combine the forms into one leaving out the differences and calling them all Haikuu's which was shortened in around the 1600-1700's in England to Haiku or Haku.
Another tradition that came from France in that time was the self involvement basing the Haiku around yourself which has greatfully disappeared to being detatched again.
I believe and so did the Author's that the changes in France at that time are the major reasons that the Haiku has gone through so many revisions and lo
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