Jim Roth’s Website

HAIKU and YOU

Our next stop is Japan to study the Japanese poetic form “Haiku.”

Here’s the itinerary:

First, please visit the links below to learn a bit about Haiku. Please focus on its origin, purpose, and structure.

Next, head outside and find any single natural item (a leaf, a branch, a blossom, a beetle, the wind, a raindrop, a sunbeam, you get the idea). Study it a bit. Then, center yourself, quiet your mind, and become infused with the spirit of Haiku. As a tribute to this experience, write the opening 5-syllable line of a Haiku and post it to the Haiku and You discussion forum by midnight Saturday May 19th.

(Come back inside)

Next, (by midnight Monday, May 21st) go to the Haiku and You forum and read through other students' opening lines. Pick an opening line that hasn't been added to and write the second line--a 7-syllable line—to continue the Haiku. If an opening line already has a suggested second line, browse through the other postings to find an opening line that needs one.

Then (you guessed it!) head back to the forum and contribute the third line--again 5 syllables. If a posting already has a second line, please browse to find one that needs one. This final line is due by midnight Thursday, May 24th.

What we are hoping to create is a number of elegant "Totally cool because our lit class created them" Haiku's that conform to the spirit and the structure we have learned.

The finished “tanka” (short poem—i.e. Haiku) should be a three-line poem with a syllable count of 5-7-5. In addition, each poem should contain a "kigo" (seasonal reference) and a "satori" (moment of insight). Also, the poem should be written in the present tense. Don’t sacrifice the Haiku if the syllable count is not exact—the essence that matters as much as the structure.

Below are helpful sources:

What is Haiku?

Basho (Matsuo Munefusa 1644-1694) and Selected Haiku Poets

The History and Artistry of Haiku—from Stanford University’s International and Cross-cultural Studies