Haiku Writing

“Writing English Language Haiku” is an article I wrote after having had the opportunity to present its contents as a 40 minute writing lesson to university graduate students. The results of the lesson were so encouraging that I realized I could use the article to teach anyone how to write publishable English language haiku. If you find this article helpful,  kindly let me know or post a comment.

WRITING ENGLISH LANGUAGE HAIKU

Objective: The objective of this article is to provide the student/writer with a series of activities that, once initiated and performed as indicated, will result in the composition of salable English language haiku.

Materials you will need: Picture(s) of nature scene(s), worksheet or notebook, 3X5 card, pencil.

Activities to perform:

Initial: Before attempting to write English language haiku, you, the poet, should have some notion of what a haiku is. Simply put, a haiku is a three-line poem which has nature (or some aspect of nature) as a theme. This cannot be any aspect of nature but must be an aspect that causes the poet to wonder and invokes a spiritual insight or an emotion. The poet is thus inspired to write the haiku. Traditional Japanese language haiku has seventeen syllables (called jion), but since English syllables are different from Japanese syllables, the haiku form is best served in English when the writer uses a short line/long line/short line structure instead of counting syllables.

Unlike English poetry, haiku uses neither simile nor metaphor. It is not a comment or speculation about nature but nature itself.

Consider, for example, this haiku by Seifu:

The mansion’s light.

shining bright,

the winter’s clump of trees.

(You will find other sample haiku at the end of this lesson.)

Prewriting:

l. From a magazine or other source, cut out a picture of a nature scene which is inspiring or of interest to you. Observe the picture closely. Using your notebook or worksheet, take your pencil and write down specific observations about the picture you observe. Write details only, what the picture actually contains, not an opinion of what is there. Be brief; single words or phrases will do. Be exact; mention the most you can, since you can always prune your choices during the rewrite.

2.Underline those phrases or words that impress you the most, which sound striking or compelling and best describe the picture. Read these out loud if it helps to narrow your choices.

3. Before you make a preliminary draft of your haiku, take a look at the haiku examples found at the end of this lesson. What form do these haiku share? How many lines are there? What structure do they assume? What do the poets do with punctuation? What are these poems about? What elements do they have in common: style, form, imagery, content? What is the writing trying to capture or convey? What is the time/place? What specific moment or idea do the poems capture? Does the writing flow?

Drafting:

Now that you have considered the haiku samples and have a better notion of what a haiku is, begin a preliminary draft of the haiku you initiated in Step l.

Consider the words and phrases you jotted down in your notebook and start shaping them into a haiku. Which words are most striking or compelling? Follow the haiku form as provided in the examples: short line/long line/short line. Imagine you are actually at the scene/place where the picture was taken, and you wish to convey to the reader a sense of the drama that is happening there. Remember that haiku is an observation of nature; it’s three lines, short/long/short form and uses no metaphor or simile. It describes or captures a moment in present time/place, much like an impressionist painting. Brevity is a virtue; capture the moment as if you were speaking it in a single breath.

Read your efforts out loud. Now consider what revisions can be made.

Revision:

Rewrite your haiku. Place close attention to form, content and detail. Delete any unnecessary words (brevity is a plus). Try rearranging lines; place last line first, first line last. Try contrasting one line against another, one image against another. Follow short/long/short format. Does the poem give an impression of nature? Is it specific? Is it short and to the point. Is it beautiful? Does the writing flow? When you believe your haiku is the best that it can be, make a copy of it on a 3X5 card. Share it with a friend.

Now that you have an idea of what haiku writing is and have gone through the process, you can compose English language haiku anywhere, either in your home or in a natural surrounding. Always be observant of nature. Haiku are everywhere just waiting to be found.

It’s a pleasure for me to be able to share haiku writing with you. And I welcome any comments or suggestions that might improve this lesson during a future posting. I will also look forward to reading your haiku.

Haiku Models

Unless otherwise noted, all the haiku models that follow are from Dragonfly and are © l974 by Lorraine Ellis Harr.

fluttering in a thicket

the brown thrasher leaves one song

on many branches

April wind

whipping white caps

in the bay

Rising

Through forest fire smoke

The red moon

From his fence post

a robin views the meadow

filled with spring

if you come with me

I’ll show you this lavender field

with tiny red birds

Beyond a hole

in the masonry

sparrow eggs

Talking off my shoes

before this ancient temple

the peace of Buddha

*

Once you have learned the form, you might want to experiment (as these authors have):

Richard Bautigan:

A piece of green pepper

fell

off the wooden salad bowl?

so what?

Taniguchi Buson:

The piercing chill I feel;

my dead wife’s comb, in the bedroom,

under my heel

snowman

snow

snowmen

Happy haiku writing!

© 2007 by Martin A. Ramos

Email me at: prramos21@hotmail.com.