Haiku - an Introduction by Sandra Simpson

felling a tree
and gazing at the cut end -
tonight's moon

- Matsuo Basho

Haiku are nature poems, 1-4 lines long (most usually 3 lines) that should be able to be said in one breath (about 20 syllables, although often they are much less). Haiku have for a long time been taught as a 3-line arrangement of 5-7-5 syllables. Most English practitioners now agree this is outdated (it was an attempt to replicate the traditional Japanese form which, because of the differences in language, was not accurate) and write using the “one breath” idea as a guide.

Haiku are written in the present tense - they are what is happening now!

The form evolved from Japan where the master practitioner was Matsuo Basho (1644-94), still revered today. Other great classical haijin (writers of haiku) include Yosa Buson (1716-83) and Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827). See biographies of these three and samples of their work here.

Modern haiku often still include a traditional seasonal word - for instance, in New Zealand “pohutukawa” would be taken to mean summer, while “pumpkin” traditionally signifies autumn - although it is not strictly necessary. If you are writing about nature and are writing a truth (rather than an imagined moment), a season is usually able to be intuited by the reader.

Good haiku should contain one or more of the five senses and to write haiku well you must sharpen your senses - open your eyes, ears, your mind, smell the world, taste it, touch it.

thunder-filled clouds -
over the bridge come
jingling-jangling horses

- Cyril Childs

Haiku are unrhymed and should not contain simile or metaphor, and should keep adjectives and adverbs to a minimum. They are written in everyday language, finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Haiku don't tell a story, they illuminate a moment.

Write haiku and join those who form the largest creative arts group in the world!

earthquake
only the sky
is still

- Dora Davidson
(winner NZPS haiku junior contest, 2004)


a marshmallow sun
in the mist
my horse snorts

- Elaine King
(winner NZPS haiku contest, 2004)

Further reading: New Zealand Haiku Anthology (1993) and the Second New Zealand Haiku Anthology (1998), both edited by Cyril Childs and published by the NZ Poetry Society. The first anthology is now out of print, but available from most public libraries. The second anthology is still available for sale, contact New Zealand Poetry Society.

Many web journals also contain articles and reviews. See Publications.

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