Haiku Poetry
A Famous Poet
 Issa Kobayashi was born in
Japan in 1763, more than
two hundred years ago.
by Shumpo Muramatsu
Issa had a poet’s eyes.
He noticed things
many people would
not. He took the time
to look, to listen, and to
enjoy the movements
of the many small
creatures who shared
his world, like
sparrows, crickets, and
frogs.
Issa had a
compassionate feeling
for all creatures,
including fleas and
flies. He felt even
common houseflies
have a right to live,
and would not swat
them.
In many ways, Issa’s life was a sad one.
His mother died before he was two, and his
own four sons and a daughter all died
before they were a year old,
a great sorrow to a man who loved children
as much as Issa did.
Issa was a poor man and
spent much of his life in
solitary wandering.
Perhaps it was the
loneliness of these years
that made him value all the
animals, birds, and insects
who shared his house and
garden and kept him
company in his travels
about the countryside.
Issa’s House
At the age of 25, Issa began to write haiku
poems. Many of his poems are about the
humble creatures he loved.
Here is one of Issa’s haiku poems.
A few flies and I
Keep house together
In this humble home.
This is the way one of
Issa’s poems looked
when he wrote them.
 Some of Issa’s poems contain a beautiful
image.
 Some are funny.
 Some make you think.
Swatted out
From everywhere else,
The mosquitoes come here.
A measuring worm takes the length
of the wooden support
that holds up my house.
The frog looks as if he had just
belched a cloud
into the sky.
My hut is so small,
but please do practice your jumping,
fleas of mine!
If you are tender to them,
the young sparrows
will poop on you.
The mosquitoes!
They have come for their lunch to the man
having a nap.
I asked him how old he was,
and the boy dressed up in a new kimono
stretched forth all five fingers.
Haiku was created centuries ago.
It was treasured for its pure form and exquisite
content.
Western culture has grown to love and
respect this special type of poetry.
Writing your own haiku is easy.
Follow these seven easy steps.
Step 1: Form
Your Haiku should have three lines with or without a
seventeen-syllable count. It should be one breath
long.
old pondfrog jumps in
sound of water
- Matsuo Basho (Japanese poet, 1644-1694)
Step 2:Image
Your Haiku should have a descriptive
image. For example, not a “flower,” but
instead a “purple iris in the sun”.
evening breezewater splashes against
a blue heron’s legs
- Yosa Buson (Japanese poet, 1716-1783)
Step 3: Kigo (a season word)
Your Haiku should refer to nature and hint at the
season or weather.
off they leap
grasshopper mother and child
and turn to grass
- Katsushi Hosokawa
(Japenese poet, age 10)
Step 4: Here and Now
Basho said,
“Haiku is simply what is happening in this
place, at this moment.”
You should write from real experience, not
imagination; record the present moment.
for a second a butterfly
settles on my cheek
I must not breathe
- Myriam Suchet (French poet, age 15)
Step 5: Feeling
Your Haiku should not explain or tell, but
instead show the feeling through your
image.
along with spring leaves
my child’s teeth
are coming in
- Nakamura Kusatao (Japanese poet, 1901-1983)
Step 6: Surprise!
Your Haiku should have an “ah!” moment
that wakes us up.
in a mouse’s nest
someone’s love letter
was found
- Unknown Japanese Poet
Step 7: Compassion
Your Haiku should express
openheartedness toward nature.
Don’t hit the flyHe prays with his hands
And his feet
- Kobayashi Issa (Japanese poet, 1763-1827)
Let’s Review!
Haiku Form






Three lines
Syllable pattern of 5,7,5
Usually doesn’t rhyme
Usually about nature
Often includes a reference to a season
Often a single sentence, but may be
sentence fragments
Now try writing your own!
Bibliography
 Haiku: the Poetic Moment
http://norazpoets.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user
_op=viewPAGE_id=93
 Issa’s Haiku Home Page
www.threeweb.ad.jp/logos/ainet/issa.html
 Haiku
www.1lo.sanok.pl/~iz/haiku/Issa.htm
 National Clearinghouse for U.S. –Japan Studies.
http://www.indiana.edu/~japan/LP/LS3.html
 Steve Shaluta Photography
http://www.steveshaluta.com/insects/inchworm-01.htm
 Kotobuki Wedding Attire
http://www.kimonowedding.com/gallery_children.htm