Haiku history & a few haiku — from me to you | Gail Kuhnlein

March 12, 2024 — My late father introduced me to haiku. He wrote poetry often and loved wordplay. I will always remember reading my book, How Happy Is a Lark, to him in person during one of our visits to Greensboro, N.C. He smiled throughout and chuckled several times. I was happy to see that the Troy Public Library lists my book in the children’s poetry section. My FaceBook friends probably know that I like writing, and sometimes sharing, my haiku.

My Mom and Dad both published poetry in their college newspaper at McGill University* in Montreal, Canada, where they met. Their pen names were (I think) Pookie (Dad) and Anarkali (Mom). As different as they could be, in some ways, they were also two-of-a-kind. Anyway, I guess I come by my love of writing naturally. In a future blog post, I’ll feature some of their poetry.

A short history of haiku. What came to be known as haiku as we know the form of poetry today, began in Japan in the 13th Century. They were opening phrases (called hokku) of renga. Renga means “linked poems” or “linked verse” in Japanese. They are composed by two or more poets collaboratively contributing alternate stanzas. They are generally 100 stanzas long. Creating renga was a popular pastime in ancient times, taking on serious or comic tones. They are considered oral poems, composed and recited aloud from memory, rather than in writing.

The short haiku began to stand on its own in the 16th century. Some 100 years later, Matsuo Basho made haiku popular. Today, after centuries of discussion, he is known as the greatest master of haiku. One of his classic haiku is titled An old pond! (There are a number of different translations, this is one):

An old pond!

An old silent pond…
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.

by Matsuo Basho

Most often, haiku have a nature theme. Commonly, historical and modern haiku poets wrote/write about the change of seasons. Often, a haiku describes a single moment in time and, many times, compares and contrasts two images. Here are some general rules of haiku:

There are no more than 17 syllables.
Haiku is composed of three lines.
Typically, the first line of haiku has five syllables, the second line has seven syllables, and the third has five syllables. (Surprisingly, or not, the 5-7-5 rule is debated.)

“In Japanese, they actually do not count syllables, but sounds, which is why even the word “haiku” itself counts as two syllables in English, but three sounds in Japanese. (Also, the word “haiku” is both singular and plural, so it’s considered incorrect to say “haikus” in English),” according to Graceguts, an online poetry magazine of sorts.

“It is a common and widespread belief that haiku is 5-7-5 syllables in English, but this is actually a misunderstanding, despite how widespread that belief is, and despite how so many of us were mistaught that in school.”

Haiku usually don’t rhyme. They seek to express many ideas and allude to even more in the least possible number of words.

Here are several haiku I’ve written over the years, in different seasons and during different seasons of my life. Many were composed in my head (like renga!) on walks, bike rides and even while cross-country skiing:

Winter confetti

Moon glow

Glowing orb above
silently watches over
creatures great and small

Distant thunder

Raindrops start to fall
a distant thunder rumbles
breeze blows colored leaves

Autumn whispers

Autumn arrives with
shouts of orange and yellow
and cool breeze whispers

April 17 is International Haiku Poetry Day. Please send me some of your haiku, and I’ll include some favorites in my blog in April.

* Random fun fact: William Shatner (Captain Kirk of Star Trek fame), was a classmate of my mother’s and father’s at McGill University.