Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry which is also popular in the Western world. As a result of its brevity and apparent simplicity, it has become a much-used introductory poetic form for beginners. However, a search of the hashtag, #haiku, on Instagram demonstrates a marked misunderstanding of the form. This post, therefore, aims to break down the rules of the haiku.
Form
For English speakers, haiku is commonly taught as being written in three lines with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second and five syllables in the final line (Welch, 1995, p. 96).
However, many experts agree the 5-7-5 syllable rule doesn’t correctly reflect the Japanese haiku; that it’s more accurate to describe the haiku as a ‘one-breath’ poem ‘usually about 10 to 14 syllables in English’, with the middle line being the longest. (Welch, 1995, p. 96; Haiku Society of America [HSoA], 2004, Haiku Definition, para. 2).
From the information above, it can be derived that a haiku, in English, has:
- Three lines;
- With a syllable count between 10 to 17; and
- The middle line being the longest.
How to arrange the syllables is, therefore, up to the poet.
Rules
Let’s get the easiest rules out of the way:
- The haiku is unrhymed; and
- It is written in the present tense.
The rest of the rules may require a little more explanation. In list-form, these are:
- The haiku concerns one moment;
- It includes a season word;
- It includes a cutting word;
- It may include a pivot-word;
- It uses objective language;
- It uses simple language; and
- The most common technique is to juxtapose two images.
Let’s deal with each rule in turn.
One Moment
Take a look at these translated poems from the most famous Japanese Haiku master – Matsuo Basho:
In the fish shop
The gums of the salted sea bream
Are cold.
The rose of Sharon
By the roadside
Was eaten by the horse.
Both these haiku poems concern one small snippet of time. One very specific moment. The first observes a sea bream in a shop, the other observes a horse eating a flower. Further, notice how the sea bream and horse are referred to in the singular. The moment concerns one sea bream and not many; likewise with the horse.
From these examples we can see that a haiku’s briefness means it is most effective when it concerns one moment in time and with a singular subject. Another way of understanding what this means is to view things from a child’s perspective. As Welch (1995) explains, just as a child is fascinated by a (single) stone or bug, so too is the haiku (p. 117).
In practice, this requires picking a specific subject as the feature for our poem, to keep it in the singular (e.g. one leaf and not many leaves), and to describe the moment.
Season Word
A haiku should include a season-word (kigo). The good news is that the season-word can be implied. For example, cherry blossoms are associated with spring and, therefore, by implication of including these flowers the reader knows the haiku refers to spring (Henderson, 2004, p. 188).
Cutting Word
Haikus also include a cutting ‘word’ (Kireji), although this word could instead be punctuation, a space, line break or a grammatical break (HSoA, 2004, Haiku Definition, para. 2). A ‘cutting word’ can help to separate the two parts of a poem. For example, in the haiku, ‘The Old Pond’ by Basho, the ‘cutting word’ would be the dash after the word ‘pond’:
An old silent pond
A frog jumps into the pond-
Splash! Silence again
Objective Language
To write a quality haiku one must avoid the use of subjective language, i.e. words which essentially tell the reader how they should be feeling. The common culprits for creating subjective writing include literary devices, such as similes and metaphors and language tools, such as adjectives (Holmes, 1995, p. 425; Welch, 1995, p. 96).
Let’s take a look at Basho’s haiku again:
In the fish shop
The gums of the salted sea bream
Are cold.
Notice how every line is a statement of fact. Basho has not told us how to feel and yet, as we are human, our instinct may be to sympathise with a fish that feels cold … except Basho never once told us the fish feels cold. Simply that it is – and that is the very fact of being a fish in a fish shop stored on ice.
The point is that through objective words, the poet does not dictate how the reader should feel, but the reader is left to their own subjective assessment of the feeling and meanings behind the haiku.
The poet writes objectively; the reader interprets subjectively.
Common Language
The best haikus are written with language simple enough that even a child could understand (Welch, 1995, p. 117). This doesn’t mean that haikus are simple, however, as its complexity comes from the meanings and feelings it can invoke in the reader. Complex language does not mean complex emotions; simple language does not mean simple emotions.
It’s as simple as that!
Juxtapose Two Images
A common technique used in haikus is the juxtaposition of two images (HSoA, 2004, Haiku Definition, para. 2). Take this poem, by Matsuo Basho, again:
An old silent pond
A frog jumps into the pond-
Splash! Silence again
In this haiku we get the juxtaposition of silence and sound.
Pivot-Word
A haiku may also contain a ‘pivot-word’ which creates a shift in meaning between the first and second image (Keene, 1953, p. 4-6).
Conclusion
These rules have been found by academics analysing the best haiku, especially the works of Basho; but it should be noted that there are many haiku out there which break the rules above. Therefore, firstly, the only real way to get a sense of what makes a great haiku is to simply read from as many of the masters as possible. Secondly, it’s better to not obsess over ensuring all the rules are followed. For example, it might be impossible to include both a cutting word and a pivot-word. In this case, including just one may suffice. Ultimately, it is down to the individual poet to decide if they have followed a sufficient amount of the rules for their work to be considered a haiku.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Haiku Society of America. (2004). Definitions of Haiku & Related Terms. Retrieved from https://www.hsa-haiku.org/hsa-definitions.html
Henderson, H. G. (2004). On the Reading of Haiku, Especially in Translation. New England Review (1990-), 25(1/2), 186–89. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40244381.
Holmes, S. W. (1995). COMPOSING ZEN HAIKU: Training to Make Sense. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 52(4), 424–430. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42577676.
Keene, D (1953). Japanese Literature: An Introduction for Western Readers. London.
Welch, M. D. (1995). THE HAIKU SENSIBILITIES OF E. E. CUMMINGS. Spring, 4, 95–120. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43913213.
Shahema Tafader
Shahema is the editor of CandleLit Magazine. She is a barrister of the Inner Temple and holds three legal degrees received in 2011, 2012 and 2014. She has had her fiction, poetry and art published by Write On! Magazine and Write On! Extra, as well as poetry published by Minnow Literary Magazine.
Great article, Shahema! Very informative, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. 🙂
Thank you very much, Michelle. I appreciate you taking the time to read it! 🙂