by Kate Creighton

Created on: January 23, 2007   Last Updated: August 25, 2009

Regarding Haiku

Feel the moment, put it in words as briefly and accurately as possible, and then let it go.

The brevity of haiku's three short lines expresses the fleeting existence of everything. It is the spirit of the haiku that is important. Capture nature and human nature interacting and convey that vision in one breath.

So many people are fixated on syllable count but that is not the sole requirement of haiku. Yes, 5 syllables, then 7, then 5 syllables again is the expected haiku format that we all learned in school. But the original 5-7-5 applied to the Japanese language, and to sound units, or onji, not what we call syllables. The Japanese masters, ancient and modern, strive for 5-7-5; it is a natural rhythm in their language and in their spirit. Many westerners still use the 5-7-5 format. When it works, it creates a classic haiku. When it doesn't work it turns into a crowded, redundant short poem. Keeping a haiku under 17 syllables feels best; an event spoken in one breath. Anything more than 17 and the poem becomes something other than haiku.

Traditional requirements of classic haiku:

-17 syllables arranged in 3 lines, 5 syllables, then 7, then 5 again
-use of a season word (kigo)
-expression of an aha! moment, surprise or juxtaposition
-being in the moment, the event is happening now
-a fragment and a phrase separated by punctuation or a cutting word (kireji) but connected in spirit
-simple, non-poetic language
-no metaphors
-show, don't tell

Referring to a specific season, and a specific event, in the present tense, in the three line 5-7-5 format could make a perfect classic haiku. The three ancient Japanese haiku masters, Basho, Buson and Issa, represent differences in spirit and subject matter. But they adhered to the traditional form as closely as possible. Even the ancient masters, however, did not follow all of these rules all of the time. Some modern poets, experimenting with haiku and bending the rules, created haiku equally as effective as the ancient masters. Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac used modern language and circumstances to give us glimpses of the present day just as the ancients did in their time. And that is the beauty and spontaneity of haiku, of all poetry: uniqueness.

Haiku aim to work on more than one level. The obvious connection to nature...a snowy night, the full moon, blooming of daffodils, newborn birds in a nest...tied to perhaps a more personal theme...silence between partners, a funeral or feeling of loss, children laughing in a playground. The combination of relationships is endless. The connection may seem vague. That's the point: to make the reader think for a moment and then make the connection.

Basho said "master technique, then forget it."

A few of my own haiku:

full summer moon
the distance between lovers
illuminated

kite flying~
the beat of her heart
in his head

morning snow
only a flock of crows
breaks the silence

sleeping alone ~
from window to window creeps
the autumn moon

Learn more about this author, Kate Creighton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.