Haiku

Delve into haiku as a way of noticing and expressing the seasons.

Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry that has existed for hundreds of years. Haiku poems contain words or phrases tied to winter, spring, summer or fall. In fact, an expression of the season is one of three essential ingredients in a haiku.

Three key elements of traditional haiku [1] are as follows:

On - meter, typically a 5-7-5 rhythmic pattern
Kigo - words or phrases that imply or symbolize the season
Kire - “cut” or a full stop located somewhere within the poem

The kigo is any word or phrase typically associated with a season. Examples include kinds of food, plants, fish, insects, birds, clothes, festivals, celestial events, or even diseases that are linked to certain times of year.

Both phenologists and haiku poets pick out seasonal clues from their surroundings. A phenologist records those seasonal clues in a standardized way. The poet, in contrast, starts with the seasonal clue and creates an evocative word sketch around it. By pointing to a detail—such as snow, cherry blossoms, or persimmons—haiku poets invite you to reflect on fleeting beauty and imagine possible meanings.

Try it out:

Find the phenology in the haikus below by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694).
Compose a haiku-like poem in response to an outdoor observation.

Oh, tranquility!

Penetrating the very rock,

A cicada’s voice.

Translated by Helen Craig Mccullough. [2]

Profile for dog-day cicada (genus Neotibicen)

The old pond

A frog leaps in.

Sound of the water.

[2]

Profile for American toad (Anaxyrus americanus)

Profile for boreal chorus frog (Pseudacris maculata)

Profile for spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)

Profile for wood frog (Rana sylvatica)

Changed the red color,

Fallen on the tofu,

The leaf of the light crimson maple.

[3]

Profile for red maple (Acer rubrum)

Profile for sugar maple (Acer saccharum)

Minnesota and Japan: A shared experience of seasons

In the poems above, as you imagined seasonal moments from Japan, perhaps you reminisced on seasonal moments from Minnesota. Even though they’re far apart, Minnesota and Japan both have cold winters and warm summers. (Both are located in the temperate climate zone of the northern hemisphere.) In both places, people appreciate the contrast and transitions between seasons. Because haiku invite you to reflect on the seasons, they are a thoughtful entry point to phenology.