Haiku Poetry: Nature & Tradition Explained

Haiku (俳句) or Haikai (俳諧) is a style of poetry that emerged in the 16th century, spread in Japan, and has been spreading around the world during this century.

The Haiku values conciseness and objectivity; many of its poets were Zen Buddhist masters who expressed much of their thoughts in the form of myths, symbols, paradoxes, and poetic images.

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that typically has three lines, with a total of seventeen syllables. The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven, and the third line has five. The Haiku traditionally focuses on nature and often includes a seasonal word (kigo), but this is not necessary.

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Table of Contents

What is a Haiku Poem?

Haiku is a type of Japanese poetry that is typically characterized by three qualities: (1) Focus on nature or the seasons. (2) A brief and simple style. (3) An emphasis on the present.

Haiku poems are written in three horizontal lines that express not only the delicate Eastern sensitivity but also human reactions to the world around them.

It is the art of saying the most with the least, capturing a moment of experience, an instant in which the simple suddenly reveals its inner nature and makes us look again at the observed, human nature, life.

The Haikai or Haiku (as it is known in the West) is generally characterized by 4 aspects or rules:

The traditional haiku consists of 17 Japanese syllables, divided into three verses of 5, 7, and 5 syllables
It usually has some reference to nature, a kigo (seasonal reference);
It refers to a particular event (i.e., it is not a generalization)
They usually present an event that is “happening now,” and not in the past;

What is the origin of Haiku?

The Haiku is called “incomplete” poetry because it requires the reader to finish the text with their own heart. The Haiku was born from haikai no renga, a collaborative group poem that typically has a hundred verses.

The hokku, or initial verse, of the renga collaborations indicated the season and also contained a cutting word. The haikai of this style continues to follow its tradition.

Haiku began as a form of waka, or Japanese court poetry, in the 13th century. It was only in the 17th century that short Japanese poetry began with the current form.

The haiku masters Basho, Buson, and Issa are responsible for much of the development and popularity of the form.

Haijin – Poets of Few Words

Haijin (俳人) is the name given to poets. Haiku are so simple that nowadays anyone can be a Haijin, even a child.

Contemporary haiku poets can write poems that are just a short fragment with three or even fewer words.

But of course, throughout Japan’s history, we had several names that shaped Haiku and its history, among them the most famous is Matsuo Basho.

Matsuo Basho

Matsuo Bashō is considered the most famous haiku poet; his poetry is still widely read and studied today. His haiku often focuses on the simple beauty of nature and the fleeting moments of joy that can be found in everyday life.

Matsuo Basho is one of the most famous poets of the Edo period and the greatest active figure in Japanese haikai during the second half of the 17th century.

He did the work of his life, transforming Haiku into a literary genre. For Bashō, Haikai involved a combination of comic playfulness and spiritual depth, ascetic practice, and engagement in human society.

He composed Haiku masterpieces in a variety of genres, including renku, haibun, and haiga. In contrast to the traditional Japanese poetry of his day, Bashō’s Haiku is about the everyday lives of ordinary people, figures from popular culture, people like beggars, travelers, and farmers.

In the crystallization of the newly popular Haikai, he played an important role in giving birth to modern Haiku, which reflected common culture.

Other Names of Haikai

Other great names of the Haikai style were Yosa Buson (1716–1783), Kobayashi Issa (1763–1827), and Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902), known for reforming and modernizing Haikai poems.

The haikai also came to Brazil. The poet Afrânio Peixoto (1875-1947), in 1919, in his book “Trovas Populares Brasileiras,” established the form of the Brazilian hakai (5-7-5).

In 1922, Haiku in its Japanese poetic form was discussed and practiced by the poets of the “Modern Art Week.” Oswald de Andrade adopted it in Pau Brasil (1925).

Waldomiro Siqueira Jr. published the first book of hakais in Brazil in 1933. Guimarães Rosa won an award from the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 1936 with “Magma.”

Examples of Haiku

Appreciating Haiku in Japanese is not so simple for us who do not know the language. I will only mention the translation of some of these famous Haikus.

Remembering that the translation of the poem line is not exactly the same; the grammar of Japanese differs, so some words may have ended up in another line or switched positions in the translation.

The most famous Japanese haiku by Matsuo Basho, “the old pond”:

古池や – ふるいけや – Old pond..;
蛙飛び込む – かわずとびこむ – a frog jumps in it
水の音 – みずのおと – the sound of water

Poem by Matsu Basho:

初しぐれ – はつしぐれ – the first cold shower
猿も小蓑を- さるもこみのを- even the monkeys seem to want
ほしげ也 – ほしげなり- a small straw coat

Poem by Issa:

江戸の雨 – えどのあめ – how many gallons
何石呑んだ – なんごくのんだ – did you drink from the rain of Edo?
時鳥 – ほととぎす – cuckoo

Made by Brazilians:

Long live Brazil
where all year round
it’s April Fool’s Day
by Millôr Fernandes

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The ice melts;
However, if the water cools:
It cold, I burn…
by Afrânio Peixoto.

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Silently
without a cluck
the Night lays the egg of the moon…
by Mario Quintana.

There are also several other sites that followed this trend of creating poems with 3 verses and 17 syllables. You can check countless Haiku by browsing the internet.