how can you form a haiku?

Answer 1

Haikus are an ancient Japanese poem that use a certain number of syllables to create a picture or snapshot of nature.

Today, haikus no longer have to adhere to the 5-7-5-syllable rule. Their subject matter now is also beyond the range of the natural world. Modern haiku poets write about anything. The name for non-nature oriented haikus is senryu. Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about how to write them!

First, understand that you don't need to construct your haikus with strict adherence to a certain number of syllables. This is freeing in many ways. First off, your subject matter takes precedence over your syllable count. Have a word that just doesn't fit in with 5-7-5? No problem. Modern haikus allow for this. For example, look at this haiku poem by the author:

Atlantic sunset --
bands of orange light
touch the water

Here we have "sunset" as the subject of this poem. Strangely enough, the first line does have 5 syllables. Line two however breaks the 7 syllable rule and comes in at 5 syllables. Line 3 contains only 4. And here we have a complete haiku poem. So why is this acceptable? Because it uses many haiku techniques. One of these, perhaps the most important one is fragment and phrase theory.

The theory goes something like this. Haikus can contain a fragment and a phrase. In this example, line one is the fragment, lines 2 and 3 contain the phrase. The fragment sets the mood or ambiance of the poem while the phrase hones in on something very specific that is taking place in the present. Still, only a few words are used to "paint" this picture.

Here's another example:

So many shells
on the beach tonight...
ebb tide

In this haiku, we start out with the phase and end with the fragment. Completely acceptable and used frequently by modern haiku poets. You'll also notice that there is a "cut" or "break" between the fragment and the phrase. This "cut" helps the reader get the juxtaposition between the two parts of the poem. To write haikus your way, just think in terms of fragment and phrase and you can't go wrong!

Answer 2

it is a japense poem:

3 lines.

pattern is 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables.

it's usually about nature, rarley about people and such. descriptive adjetives and simple. example:

An old pond!
A frog jumps in-
The sound of water.
~~~~~
The first soft snow!
Enough to bend the leaves
Of the jonquil low.
~~~~~
In the cicada's cry
No sign can foretell
How soon it must die.
~~~~~
Harvest moon:
around the pond I wander
and the night is gone.
~~~~~
BTW, i pulled this off this website: http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/#whatishaiku
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What is Haiku?

Haiku is one of the most important form of traditional Japanese poetry. Haiku is, today, a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. Since early days, there has been confusion between the three related terms Haiku, Hokku and Haikai. The term hokku literally means "starting verse", and was the first starting link of a much longer chain of verses known as haika. Because the hokku set the tone for the rest of the poetic chain, it enjoyed a privileged position in haikai poetry, and it was not uncommon for a poet to compose a hokku by itself without following up with the rest of the chain.


Largely through the efforts of Masaoka Shiki, this independence was formally established in the 1890s through the creation of the term haiku. This new form of poetry was to be written, read and understood as an independent poem, complete in itself, rather than part of a longer chain.

Strictly speaking, then, the history of haiku begins only in the last years of the 19th century. The famous verses of such Edo-period (1600-1868) masters as Basho, Yosa Buson, and Kobayashi Issa are properly referred to as hokku and must be placed in the perspective of the history of haikai even though they are now generally read as independent haiku. In HAIKU for PEOPLE, both terms will be treated equally! The distinction between hokku and haiku can be handled by using the terms Classical Haiku and Modern Haiku.


Modern Haiku.

The history of the modern haiku dates from Masaoka Shiki's reform, begun in 1892, which established haiku as a new independent poetic form. Shiki's reform did not change two traditional elements of haiku: the division of 17 syllables into three groups of 5, 7, and 5 syllables and the inclusion of a seasonal theme.

Kawahigashi Hekigoto carried Shiki's reform further with two proposals:


Haiku would be truer to reality if there were no center of interest in it.
The importance of the poet's first impression, just as it was, of subjects taken from daily life, and of local colour to create freshness.
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How to write Haiku
In japanese, the rules for how to write Haiku are clear, and will not be discussed here. In foreign languages, there exist NO consensus in how to write Haiku-poems. Anyway, let's take a look at the basic knowledge:


What to write about?

Haiku-poems can describe almost anything, but you seldom find themes which are too complicated for normal PEOPLE's recognition and understanding. Some of the most thrilling Haiku-poems describe daily situations in a way that gives the reader a brand new experience of a well-known situation.

The metrical pattern of Haiku

Haiku-poems consist of respectively 5, 7 and 5 syllables in three units. In japanese, this convention is a must, but in english, which has variation in the length of syllables, this can sometimes be difficult.

The technique of cutting.

The cutting divides the Haiku into two parts, with a certain imaginative distance between the two sections, but the two sections must remain, to a degree, independent of each other. Both sections must enrich the understanding of the other.

To make this cutting in english, either the first or the second line ends normally with a colon, long dash or ellipsis.

The seasonal theme.

Each Haiku must contain a kigo, a season word, which indicate in which season the Haiku is set. For example, cherry blossoms indicate spring, snow indicate winter, and mosquitoes indicate summer, but the season word isn't always that obvious.

Please notice that Haiku-poems are written under different rules and in many languages. For translated Haiku-poems, the translator must decide whether he should obey the rules strictly, or if he should present the exact essence of the Haiku. For Haiku-poems originally written in english, the poet should be more careful. These are the difficulties, and the pleasure of Haiku.
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Answer 3

http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/#howtowritehaiku - this site is really good at explaining how to write them, even if there is no general consensus on the correct format to write these poems in.

http://members.aol.com/frenjp/haiku/create.htm - also, if you need to get a feel for writing them, here's a little activity to get you started!

Oh, and if you have too much trouble with it, use Yahoo!Answers, because I'm sure other people have asked this question as well.

Hope these links help! Good luck and have fun - they're really humorous to write (especially when you do MadLibs with them!).

Answer 4

tuisson is right... here's a sample of my haiku.. i wrote it when i was 7.

daisies along the way
they nod and dance gracefully
to make me happy



most haikus are poems about nature.

Answer 5

besides the 3 lines with 5 syllables,7syllables,5 syllables, the use of few but really descriptive words that really get across the feeling and mood you want to express.

Answer 6

you make 3 sentences, the first one with 7 syllabels 2nd 5 syllables and 3rd 7 once again

Answer 7

how to do a haiku

Answer 8

3 lines of
five syllables
seven syllables
five syllables

Answer 9

think of it.