Steps
- Understand the way haiku is made. Haiku in Japanese is written in a single vertical line with seventeen sound units or mora (not strictly the same as syllables) in a rhythm of five, seven, and five. In English (a stressed language), the ideas can be expressed with a short line, a long line, and another short stack. Sometimes, haiku can turn out very bad and cheesy. Pick a good topic.
- Choose a season. Many haiku seem to focus on nature, but what they are really focusing on is a seasonal reference (not all of which are necessarily about nature). Japanese poets use a "saijiki" or season word almanac to check the seasonal association for key words that they might use in a haiku (thus the haiku is a seasonal poem, and thus often about nature, but does not have to be about nature if the seasonal reference is about a human activity). The season is important for coming up with words to use in a haiku. Because the poem has so few words, simple phrases such as "cherry blossoms" or "falling leaves" can create lush scenes, yet still reflect the feeling of the verse. Moreover, season words also invoke other poems that use the same season word, making the poem part of a rich historical tapestry through allusive variation. In Japanese, the "kigo" or season word was generally understood; "autumn breeze" might be known to express loneliness and the coming of the dark winter season
- Winter usually makes us think of burden, cold, sadness, hunger, tranquility or peace. Ideas about winter can be invited with words like "snow," "ice," "dead tree," "leafless," etc.
- Summer brings about feelings of warmth, vibrancy, love, anger, and many others. General summer phrases include references to the sky, beaches, heat, and romance.
- Autumn brings to mind a very wide range of ideas: decay, belief in the supernatural, jealousy, saying goodbye, loss, regret, and mystery to name a few. Falling leaves, shadows, and autumn colors are common implementations.
- Spring, like summer, can make one think of love, but it is usually more a sense of infatuation. Also common are themes like innocence, youth, passion, and fickleness. Blossoms, new plants, or warm rains can imply spring. For more information on seasons, go to the link listed below.
Seasonal references can also include human activities, and Japanese saijikis contain many such listings. Be aware that some references to human activities, such as Christmas, are effective season words, but require a geographical limitation; while Christmas is a winter season word in the northern hemisphere, it's a summer reference in the southern hemisphere.
- Add a contrast or comparison. Reading most haiku, you'll notice they either present one idea for the first two lines and then switch quickly to something else or do the same with the first line and last two. A Japanese haiku achieves this shift with what is called a "kireji" or cutting word, which cuts the poem into two parts. In English, it is essential for nearly every haiku to have this two-part juxtapositional structure. The idea is to create a leap between the two parts, and to create an intuitive realization from what has been called an "internal comparison." These two parts sometimes create a contrast, sometime a comparison. Creating this two-part structure effectively can be the hardest part of writing a haiku, because it can be very difficult to avoid too obvious a connection between the two parts, yet also avoid too great a distance between them that becomes obscure and unclear. The haiku poet wants to come up with the perfect words to spark the emotions (not ideas) they wish to communicate. It doesn't have to be extremely severe; it can be anything from one color to another. In English, punctuation between the two lines can create that contrast, although this is not necessary provided that the grammar clearly indicates that a shift has occurred.
- Use primarily objective sensory description. Haiku are based on the five senses. They are about things you can experience, not your interpretation or analysis of those things. To do this effectively, it is good to rely on sensory description, and to use mostly objective rather than subjective words.
- Like any other art, haiku takes practice. Basho said that each haiku should be a thousand times on the tongue. It is also important to read good haiku, and not just translations from the Japanese but the best literary haiku being written in English. To learn haiku properly, it is important to take it beyond the superficial or even sometimes incorrect ways it has been taught in most grade schools. It is important to distinguish between pseudo-haiku that says whatever it wants in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern and literary haiku that adheres to the use of season words, a two-part juxtap
Tips
- To get inspiration and begin to understand the subtle emotions within images from nature, read the works of famous Classic haiku poets, such as Basho, Buson, Issa, or Shiki, but do try to read more modern or contemporary Japanese haiku writers to avoid writing in a pseudo Classic fashion.
- Write what you see, not what you feel. In the end, haiku are about emotions expressed through concrete images. When reading haiku, don't read them like you would other poems. Haiku are written to capture a feeling and image. Keep an open mind when reading haiku and try to feel what the writer was trying to get across. The more you read haiku, the easier they are to understand. Haiku has been called an "unfinished" poem because each one requires the reader to finish it in his or her heart.
- Remember that Japanese was originally a pictographic language. When it is written, it uses mostly picture characters to represent ideas visually instead of letters such as those in the English alphabet. Because there is so much difference between the Japanese language and our language, haiku in English will have some differences.
- There are some who say that haiku can just be a short fragment (no more than three words) followed by a phrase. The following is an example of such a structure, which is often very effective, but this example fails to have the necessary seasonal reference or to create an intuitive spark or leap of understanding in the relationship between the two parts.
- early evening
- small flat stones
- line the shore
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