Haiku Week – Write Your Own Haiku!

Matsuo Basho is the most famous Japanese poet. Here are two versions of the same haiku by him translated by Jane Reichhold:

flower buds

sadly spring winds cannot open

a poem bag

Or:

flower buds

it’s my regret I can’t open

my bag of poems

Which one do you prefer?

Haiku are tiny poems with three lines so in a haiku there is space for one or maybe two thoughts or images. But those images could be as tiny as a raindrop or as huge as the universe!

They don’t rhyme but instead you count syllables. There are 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second and 5 in the last line.

Traditionally they are about nature and they give a sense of the season. Even though they are tiny poems classic haiku include a change. The poet makes you think about one thing, then another – like the flower buds and then not being able to open a bag of poems – something happens! Can you try and include all that in a haiku yourself?

You don’t have to include the traditions when you write a poem, but I think it helps to know about them. For example I think it adds something to know that a ‘rondelet’ comes from traditional French song and dance, so that energy might come into my writing when I’m writing one. Haiku are usually more calm and thoughtful than a rondelet.

Did you notice that the haiku translated by Jane Reichhold didn’t have the ‘right’ syllable count? That’s to do with the translation, because the words are so different tin Japanese and English.

Here is anther example by Issa, translated by R.H.Blyth from Haiku Animals:

O snail

climb Mount Fuji,

but slowly,slowly.

That doesn’t have 5, 7, 5 syllables but in Issa’s Japanese it does:

Katatsumuri

sorosoro nobore

fuji no yama

Haiku can be great for writing a quick poem and they are a great place to put an idea so you don’t forget it – but it can be really satisfying to take your time and see if you can get a sense of nature, a season and bring a change and make something happen in your tiny poem.

Have fun!

The poems are from:

Basho: The Complete Haiku by Jane Reichhold. Kodansha International Press, 2008. ISBN 978-4-7700-3063-4

Haiku Animals edited by Mavis Pilbeam. British Museum Press, 2010. ISBN 987-0-7141-2461-2