Haiku are the little powerhouses of the poetry world! They are a fun challenge involving the best of word play, mixed with a little finger counting to get the syllables just right! Here's a brief "Haiku 101" to help you and your kids get started.
1. Haiku poems consist of a three-line stanza that has a total of 17 syllables written in the following pattern:
Line 1: 5 syllables
Line 2: 7 syllables
Line 3: 5 syllables
*Slight variations in syllabication is appropriate as this helps the poet maintain "one thought in three lines"
2. Haiku poems are observations of nature, often making reference to the seasons.
3. Haiku poems are like photographs, which capture moments in time. A "haiku moment" describes a scene that leads the reader to a feeling.
4. Haiku poems were originally written as introductions to longer works of poetry and should be written as one thought in three lines.
Consider these haiku written by the Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho:
Yellow rose petals
Drop one-by-one in silence:
Roar of waterfall.
Within plum orchard,
Sturdy oak takes no notice
Of flowering blooms.
Ready to write? Try crafting three original haiku inspired by any of these photographs. Share them with us in the comments section, we'd love to read them!
Crisp leaves swarmed through the
Novel autumn wind, while leaving
a friend behind
-Cherish
Dozens of fresh apples
Thump covering dirt creating
A red blanket.
Dry sharp weeds decay
Freshly snapped apples leaving
Imprints in the soft dirt.
Autumn sunrays reflect
Against polished apples
Touching the earth.
mud splashed rain boots
trodding on spangled leaves
waiting for apples.
-moriah,12
Pail and blemished
Splashed with the frail color
Of defeat and Fall.
Dead ballerinas
Hung limp from fall’s greedy branches,
No soul for dancing.
Punctured apples
Plump softly to the ground
Fusing with damp leaves.
In crisp Autumn air,
They hang like ghost women in
Shriveled white dresses.
-Marlo, 14
The lonely leaf floats,
Watching for friends to play with,
Longing to go soar.
All the unwanted,
All the unwanted apples,
They go to this place.
This season is dark,
The season of all dead leaves,
Will it ever leave?
Golden stuck in this
fence,i’m a lonely leaf,
sitting here alone
-Matt
Here are some wonderful haiku from the 3rd and 4th graders at the Waterhouse Guild:
Apples bloom on trees
so I reach up and twist,
snap a cripsy bite
-trinity, 8
Yum for fall and
Apple cider apples
rolling on leaves
-Mikayla,8
Those apples smell
Like imaginary
Sweet apple pie
-Lizzy, 9
Red, gold, brown
are the colors of the lone
fall leaf twirling
-Veronica 10
Orange yellow
No more green,
I wish it were spring
-Charis, 6
Apples in many
Different colors, red, green
Tart and sweet
-Vanessa