ZEN HAIKU LESSON click here if you want to read the complete lesson

ZEN HAIKU is a traditional form of art and the most popular kind of HAIKU. Japanese language HAIKU is written in 5/7/5 syllables and three lines and has been popular in the West for decades but in English language haiku is not expected to follow the 5/7/5 form. Unfortunately, many of the traditional principles of haiku writing are still not well understood in the West.

What is HAIKU, and what makes it a ZEN art?

HAIKU evolved from a poetic form called RENGA that originated in the 8th century. Each Renga Poem began with three lines of (5/7/5) five, seven, and five syllables, respectively, followed by two lines of seven syllables each, what later on became TANKA 5/7/5/7/7. The first verse was called the HOKKU.

MATSUO BASHO (1644-1694) is credited with making the first three lines of renka into stand-alone poems that we know as HAIKU. Basho was a Zen monk. His best-known haiku has been translated many ways:

old pond
a frog jumps in --
plop

English Haiku came to the West late in the 19th century. In the English language, poets force the Japanese 5/7/5 syllables in 3 lines templet. As a result, a lot of really bad haiku came to be written in English.

HAIKU is an expression of direct experience, not an expression of an idea about the experience.

For example, this is a really BAD HAIKU because it's an idea not an experience:

A rose represents
A mother's kiss, a spring day
A lover's longing.
............................................
Compare in contrast with a second HAIKU, not great but better because it brings you into the moment:

Wilted rose bouquet
Left in new grass
By the gravestone
..............................

Basho said, "When composing a HAIKU let there not be a breadth separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant."

HAIKU is about nature, and the poem should provide at least a hint about the SEASON OF THE YEAR, often in just one word called a KIGO.

Here's another haiku:

A cormorant dips
Into the pond; the floating
Yellow leaves bobble

"Yellow leaves" reveals it's a FALL HAIKU.

An important convention of HAIKU is the KIREJI or cutting word (usually a dash at the end of the second line). In Japanese, kireji divides the poem into two parts, often setting up juxtaposition. Put another way; the kireji cuts the train of thought in the haiku, which is a technique for giving the poem bite. This is the oh! aha! part that English haiku seems too often to leave out.

Here's a good haiku example, by haiku master, Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828). It's an experience, a moment in time. You can visualize it easily.

From the nostril
of the Great Buddha statue
comes a swallow

ENGLISH ZEN HAIKU has just the right amount of words, as brief as possible.
You might notice most of the examples of haiku above do not follow the five-seven-five syllable rule. The 5/7/5 pattern of syllables works better in Japanese. In English, it's better to use no more words than you need to use. If you find yourself adding an adjective here and there to force the 5/7/5 syllable count to work, that's not good HAIKU writing.

At the same time, if you are struggling to stay within the five-seven-five syllable rule, you may be trying to pack too much into one haiku. Try to tighten your focus. -- Lesson written by By Barbara O'Brien

And now that you know how to write a real haiku give it a try.

haiku examples
click here to read haiku rules
click here to read why is 5/7/5 OR LESS rule
click here for season words

Thank you very much for taking the time to read and review my poem.

Gypsy
"Learn all the rules so you can break them." - Matsuo Basho

Pictures from my Pinterest account

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