What is a haiku?
A haiku is a very short poem about a specific experience, often involving nature or a season. It usually describes what someone sees, hears, or feels, and may place two images together for the reader to compare.
Where haiku began
Haiku developed in Japan from the opening verse of poems written by several people in turn. Traditional Japanese haiku usually have seventeen sound units, a reference to a season, and a cut: a pause or shift between parts of the poem.
In English, you may have learned to write haiku in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables. This is a useful exercise, but English syllables differ from Japanese sound units. Many English-language haiku are shorter.
An ancient pond!With a sound from the waterOf the frog as it plunges in.
The poem first describes an old pond, then a frog jumping into the water. The splash contrasts with the stillness a reader may imagine in the opening line. The poem describes the event without explaining how we should feel about it.
Aston’s 1899 translation does not force the poem into 5–7–5. The familiar English pattern is useful, but the poem’s images and turn matter more than an exact count.
From observation to poem
Start with something you can see, hear, or feel. For example, “sparrows huddle, wing to wing” describes the birds’ position. It is more specific than “the birds look cold”.
Keep the description short. If you have described snow and huddled birds, you probably do not need to add “it is a cold morning”. The details already suggest that.
After the first snow, sparrows huddle wing to wing on a roof while the morning sun warms their backs. The haiku keeps only the clearest details.
first snow on the roof—sparrows huddle, wing to wingmorning warms their backs
This poem follows the familiar five–seven–five pattern, and each dot below represents one syllable.
5first snow on the roof—7sparrows huddle, wing to wing5morning warms their backs
The first line describes the snowy roof. The next two describe the birds and the warmth of the sun. The dash marks the cut between these parts and tells you where to pause.
5first snow on the roof—7sparrows huddle, wing to wing5morning warms their backs
Snow, sparrows, and morning light are specific details from nature. “First snow” also suggests the season: winter.
5first snow on the roof—7sparrows huddle, wing to wing5morning warms their backs
Do haiku have to be 5–7–5?
The familiar school pattern counts five syllables, then seven, then five. It is a useful constraint, but it is not the whole definition. Japanese haiku traditionally count seventeen brief sound units called on. An on is not the same as an English syllable, so a direct seventeen-syllable imitation can feel much longer in English.
Try 5–7–5, then check whether every word adds useful information. If you add “very” only to reach five syllables, try removing it. Keep the shorter version if it describes the scene just as clearly and sounds more natural.
Write a haiku
Begin by pausing somewhere ordinary. Write down one thing you can actually see, hear, touch, smell, or feel in the air, without trying to make it poetic yet.
Choose two details from your notes. For example, replace “a beautiful morning” with “snow on the roof” and “sparrows huddle”. These describe what you saw.
Put the details in separate parts of the poem. Remove explanations such as “this makes me feel peaceful”. Read the result aloud and check that the wording is clear.
You can now identify a haiku’s main features. Next, compare examples with different syllable counts.