Above haiga by Sakuo Nakamura; haiku by Suzuki Masajo
HAI 俳 : something humorous, witty, funny, joking : こっけいなこと。おどけ。 as in haikai「俳諧(はいかい)」
KU 句 : part of a text or poem : 文中の言葉のひと区切り。
Haiku is a kind of formal Japanese poetry, defined by the use of the Japanese language.
[I believe "formal" here refers to form]
The situation for haiku in other languages is rather different, as you will see reading along...
Traditional Japanese haiku are about the many changes during the seasons (not simply about nature ! but about the seasonal changes of nature), the changes in the life of plants and animals, heaven and earth, but also the changes in the daily life of humans within the society, like festivals and food.
Traditional Japanese haiku are defined by their form,
whereas ELH [English Language Haiku] are not defined by any form and therefore mostly explained via the opinion of an author/editor and these explanations differ quite a lot. This can be quite confusing for a beginner.
Here I collect definitions of HAIKU, in no particular order, as I find them. [Others will be shared]
They do not all correspond to my own opinions about HAIKU. It might even be questioned if "Definitions of Haiku" are really good for the genre ...
Once you have defined HAIKU for your convenience, you can try and find the "RULES", guidelines (yakusokugoto) that you want to follow in your composition of haiku.
Japanese traditional haiku can be defined by form (5-7-5, kigo, kireji)
The simple definition of three lines (short / long / short)
one season word [kigo] and
a cut marker [kire]
and
write from personal experience ...
this is where everyone should begin.
But there is more to it once you are well on your way.
If you want to write about personal feelings and interpretations of a situation, or use overly poetic language, better make it a waka or tanka
--Gabi Greve
[Text, except that in square brackets is from the World Kigo Database, shared with permission]
