Haiku

Haiku originated from Japan over three hundred years ago. The four great masters of haiku are said to be Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), Buson (1716-1784), Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828), and Shiki (1867-1902). Whereas Japanese haiku history is quite old, English haiku found its beginnings in the 20th century.

The following poem is considered by some to be the first famous English haiku, although others claim it doesn't qualify because of its structure.

In a Station of the Metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd:
Petals on a wet, black bough.

Ezra Pound (1913)

English haiku was largely considered a novelty until the 1950s, when it regained slight popularity in the United States through the work of Richard Wright and Jack Kerouac, who were both famous fiction writers of the time.

Structure

Traditional Japanese haiku has a 5-7-5 pattern, a seasonal word, and a cut word. English haiku is different, though, and what is required depends on who you ask. Some people insist that the haiku must fit the syllable pattern: 5 syllables on the first line, 7 syllables on the second line, and 5 syllables on the third line. Others are more flexible with the syllable count, and they suggest that 12-17 syllables is a reasonable overall length.

Other common characteristics that may be encountered in English haiku include: a seasonal reference, a wistful tone, a lack of superfluous words, a focus on imagery, and non-rhyming lines. See the below examples for various writing styles. If you are writing haiku for an assignment, check with your instructor for the specific requirements.

Poet: Richard Wright

Richard N. Wright (September 4, 1908-November 28, 1960) was a famous African American author. He wrote Native Son (1940) and Black Boy (1945), two seminal books on race and discrimination in the United States. Later in life, he became a prolific haiku author, completing over 4,000 poems. Many of his poems were written when he was in bad health, too tired to sit for hours at the typewriter working on his longer books. Here are some haiku written by © Richard Wright.

Just enough of snow
For a boy’s finger to write
His name on the porch.

A huge drift of snow
Blocks the narrow pathway to
The little toy shop.

Shaking the water
Off his dripping body,
The dog swims again.

Keep straight down this block,
Then turn right where you will find
A peach tree blooming.

A butterfly makes
The sunshine even brighter
With fluttering wings.

The sound of the rain,
Blotted out now and then
By a sticky cough.

Poet: James William Hackett

James William Hackett (1929-2015) was an American poet who, unlike the other authors on this page, is mainly known for his haiku poetry. The James W. Hackett Annual International Award for Haiku was named after Hackett, and he published several books of poetry during his life. Here are some haiku written by © James Hackett.

Beyond this mountain,
so vast as to strain the eye:
a world of autumn.

Deep within the stream
the huge fish lie motionless,
facing the current.

Rubble everywhere…
except for a flight of stairs
ending in the air

When finally caught
The kitten’s tail is given
A good licking

Kitten crouches,
Then leaps at the genie
rising from the tea

For a real measure
of the day’s heat, see the length
of the sleeping cat

Poet: Jack Kerouac

Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (March 12, 1922-October 21, 1969), also known as Jack Kerouac, was an American author and poet. Kerouac's famous books include The Dharma Bums and On the Road. Kerouac was a Beat Generation writer, and consistent with that subculture's values, he lived a non-standard and unregulated life. Unsurprisingly, this is reflected in his haiku, where he considered rules about syllables and seasons to be mere recommendations. Here are some haiku written by © Jack Kerouac.

You’d be surprised
how little I knew
Even up to yesterday

Nightfall,
too dark to read the page
too cold.

The bottom of my shoes
are clean
from walking in the rain

After the earthquake,
A child crying
In the silence

A raindrop from
the roof
fell in my beer

A bird hanging
on the wire
At dawn

Poet: Therese Sellers

Therese Sellers (1960-) is a Greek-American poet and writer. She started writing poetry at the age of six and published haiku on Twitter every day for years. Here are some haiku written by © Therese Sellers.

I was of his life
The sunshine, he said, and left
Through an airport gate.

Her best poems sprang
Like the winged, immortal horse
Out of blood and loss.

Silent for decades
She found her voice on Twitter
And the dam burst.

What are you doing
Staying in your house all day?
Waiting for the tide.

Stay inside the house.
This is your strength and safety,
You are a turtle.

Whispers in autumn
Become shouts in the winter
You must leave this place.

Online Publication

There are many websites where students can submit their own haiku for possible publication. Two notable options are the Mainichi, a Japanese newspaper that publishes one reader-submitted haiku each day, and the Itoen Shinhaiku Contest, which takes place annually.

For contemporary poets, social media is an easy way to find an audience. For example, you can post a poem on Threads, or you can write a poem about a picture and post both of them on Instagram.

Translations

Translating haiku from Japanese to English is an interesting exercise. If you try to match the 5-7-5 structure, the overall feeling could easily get lost. Here are some translations of haiku originally written by Matsuo Basho. The first three are translations of the same poem. Which one do you think sounds best?

old pond—
a frog jumps in,
water’s sound

the old pond—
a frog jumps in,
sound of water.

an old silent pond
a frog jumps into the pond,
splash! silence again

in the capital:
ninety-nine thousand people
blossom viewing

not dead yet
at journey’s end—
autumn evening

a snowy morning—
by myself,
chewing on dried salmon.

References

British Haiku Society. (2010). The British Haiku Awards 2010. Archive.org.
Denise Harvey. (n.d.). Therese Sellers. Retrieved 2024.
Hackett, J. W. (2017). Haiku. Retrieved 2024.
Perkins, D. P. & Pearson, A. (2022). Literature Done in English.
Sellers, T. (n.d.). @qerese. Twitter. Retrieved 2015.
Terebess Asia Online. (n.d.). Jack Kerouac Collected Haikus. Retrieved 2014.
Wright, R. (1998). Haiku: This Other World. Arcade Publishing.

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