What is haiku, anyway?
By Cat Dossett for Crane & Turtle
5, 7, 5
You may have dabbled in haiku in a grade school assignment. Three lines of poetry divided into five, seven, and five syllables, respectively. A brainteaser for sure, but can it really be an evocative form of poetry? There is more to this Japanese form than what you learned in grade school.
The first haiku actually derive from larger, collaborative poems known as renga. In this type of poem, three poets bounce 5–7–5 stanzas off one another to create one long work. Haiku, called hokku in this context, refers to the very first stanza of the renga. Over time, it seems, these evocative first stanzas became standalone works.
Fun fact: Japanese haiku do not quite follow the syllable approach of English haiku. Actually, syllables are the nearest English equivalent to Japanese on. The /n/ at the end of a Japanese word, for example, would count as its own on, and the /ai/ of haiku would count as two on. Not that Japanese haiku even need to follow the 5–7–5 formula; free-form haiku, called jiyuritsu, disregard this rule, just as free-verse disregards standard form in English poetry.
In addition to the 5–7–5 format, haiku contain what is called a “cutting word,” or kireji, as a final, biting finish to one of the three lines. It is meant to connect or conclude the thoughts presented in the poem as a whole. It is a little difficult to describe in English, as there is no English equivalent. For our purposes, then, consider it a suffix or exclamation of sorts that indicate certain moods or verb tenses. You can read more about them here.
Traditional haiku may also include a kigo. Consider it a kind of synecdoche (a part used to represent a whole, such as “Boston” referring to the people of Boston, for example, or “Crane & Turtle” referring to our small team at work at Bow Market in Somerville, MA). Typically, kigo are implications of the season at place in the poem. If the poet mentions snow, then, you can be sure the poem takes place in winter. Or if cicadas compose the backdrop of the haiku, it must be summer.
Hoping to learn more about the poetic structure of haiku? Unsurprisingly, the Wikipedia page is a great place to start.
Stick around for more installments in Crane & Turtle’s series on haiku. In the meantime, try your hand at writing your own haiku — -we’d love to read them in the comments! Maybe Crane & Turtle’s desk supplies will help you on your journey.
Up next: the haiku master Basho!
