1. Traditional and Modern Haiku

2. What is haiku?
The haiku is a traditional form of short poem that originates in Japan. The structure of the haiku is based on syllables per line. Traditional haikus are about nature. However, in modern times, the haiku has been used to write about a variety of subjects.
LINE 1: 5 syllables
LINE 2: 7 syllables
LINE 3: 5 syllables
(In translation and in other languages, these conventions are often ignored.)

3. Key Elements of a Traditional Haiku:
Rhyme and metaphor are avoided.
Descriptiveness is emphasized, with no narrative explanation.
When read aloud, it can be completed in one breath.
A cutting word is often included—a grammatical break that marks a transition or pause in thought between separate parts of the poem.
First snow falling on the half-finished bridge. Matsuo Basho Translated by Robert Hass

4. Haiku is more than a form of poetry; it is a way of seeing the world
Haiku is more than a form of poetry; it is a way of seeing the world. Each haiku captures a moment of experience—
(This and the subsequent slides are from A.C. Missias’ essay, “Contemporary Haiku”— to read the full essay, visit
Old pond... a frog jumps in water's sound.
Matsuo Basho Translated by William Higginson

5. an instant when the ordinary suddenly reveals its inner nature and makes us take a second look at the event, at human nature, at life.
Won't you come and see loneliness? Just one leaf from the kiri tree.
Matsuo Basho

6. filling the ruts left by the festival cart.
“…haiku has not changed much from the days of medieval Japan. The essence of one moment of wisdom captured within a few, short lines is still what inspires writers and draws audiences from around the world.”
Rain falls on the grass,
filling the ruts left by
the festival cart.
Buson

7. cherry blossoms are not stirred by the temple bell.
“It can be as elevated as the ringing of a temple bell, or as simple as sunlight catching a bit of silverware on your table;”
So very still, even
cherry blossoms are not stirred
by the temple bell.
Fuhaku

8. “as isolated as a mountain top, or as crowded as a subway car; reveling in beauty or acknowledging the ugly.”
Traveling this high  mountain trail, delighted  by violets 
Matsuo Basho

9. “What unifies these moments is the way they make us pause and take notice, the way we are still recalling them hours later—”
Clouds appear and bring to men a chance to rest from looking at the moon.
Matsuo Basho

10. “the feeling of having had a momentary insight transcending the ordinary, or a glimpse into the very essence of ordinariness itself.”
For a lovely bowl let us arrange these flowers... Since there is no rice
Matsuo Basho

11. English haiku
Written since the 1950’s
Sometimes has fewer than 17 syllables, due to differences between English and Japanese—11 are often used instead
Long-short-long pattern still usually applies
The little girl on the plane Who turned her doll’s head around
To look at me.
J.D. Salinger

12. Imagist movement in the early 1900’s:
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
William Carlos Williams
In a Station of the Metro.
The apparition of those faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough.
Ezra Pound
This is Just To Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
William Carlos Williams