Haiku and Imagery

The Haiku is an ancient form of poetry, originating from Japan, and maintaining a structure of five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third, it is a remarkably simple structure that is capable of conveying deceptively deep imagery and connection to the reader. The inability of the author to use embellishments in their writing requires discretion and skill as they must budget the syllables wisely in order to squeeze the most imagery they can from each word.

An excellent example of this syllabic thriftiness is Yosa Buson’s Haiku.

The petals fall

and the river takes them-

plum tree on the bank. (Buson, 218)

In this classic Haiku the author is able to bring about wonderful sensory imagery in just a few short lines. The reader can directly get the visual imagery of leaves falling from a plum tree perched upon a riverbank. The very presence of a river lends kinesthetic imagery to the poem as water is never still, always flowing and swirling, on top of the presence of the river there is also the movement of the leaves as they spiral downward toward to be carried off by the river. Without the author even mentioning a sound this haiku also brings about auditory imagery for me as I can hear the sounds of rushing water while I read the poem. All of this sense of sound and movement is found in just the first two lines, before being anchored by the final, stationary image “plum tree on the bank”.

Chu, Jean Hyun Yul. “Haiku.” Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art, by Finch Annie Kathrine Varnes, University of Michigan Press, 2002, pp. 217–222

Buson, Yosa. “Yosa Buson’s Haiku.” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art, by Annie Finch and Kathrine Varnes, University of Michigan Press, 2002, pp. 218

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