Examples of Haiku Poems

Poetry is a writing style that contains short verses with words that rhyme. A poet shares his feelings, his desires and dreams through a poem. These poems contain beautiful sounds and meanings that express pain and joy effectively. There are many types of poem styles. Of these many styles includes an ancient poetry form that is haiku poems. You will find many haiku examples in English. The following few paragraphs will cover some examples of haiku poems.

What is a Haiku Poem?
Haiku poems originated in 9th century Japan and are popular even today. A haiku poem structure has remained unchanged since the time of origination. Haiku is not just a type of poem, it has deeper meanings and is a way of looking at the physical aspect of the world. In Japanese, the haiku poem has three lines. The first as the last line have 5 moras. The second line, that is, the middle line is of 7 moras. Mora is just like a syllable but not the same. As one cannot use moras in English, we tend to use syllables in place of them. In simple words, a haiku poem in English language consists of the following structure:

• The poem consists of 3 lines
• The first and last lines of the poem has 5 syllables
• The middle line of the poem has 7 syllables
• The lines of a haiku poem rarely rhyme

In ancient Japan, writing haiku was a popular activity called the 'tanka'. Here, a person would write the first three lines in the same 5-7-5 structure. Then, the next person was to add more in the next section using the 7-7 structure, and the chain would continue. Thus, the 'hokku' or the first verse would set the mood for the poem. At times, one could add hundreds of verses to a hokku. The term 'hokku' does gave rise to the name 'haiku'.

A haiku poem is really short and therefore mostly written about animals or nature. This is to help the reader, especially children identify with the things mentioned and enjoy making their own haiku poems. Traditional Japanese poems contain a 'Kigo' that is, a seasonal word or 'Kireji' that is defined as a 'cutting word'. The Kireji is used at the end of any of the three lines and helps give a definitive ending to the line. The western Haiku poem structure is different from the Japanese Haiku poem structure. The western Haiku does not follow the five, seven and five syllable pattern and can contain a maximum of 17 syllables. Let us see some interesting examples of haiku poems.

Examples of Haiku Poems
A haiku poem can be written about anything under the sun. There are many forms of haiku poems, let us see some examples of haiku poems.


The following haiku examples in English will help you understand how a haiku is written. One noun and a connective phrase with five syllables consists of the traditional Japanese haiku poems.

An old silent pond... A frog jumps into the pond, splash! Silence again. ~ Basho

Sick and feverish Glimpse of cherry blossoms Still shivering. ~ Ryunosuke Akutagawa

The summer river: although there is a bridge, my horse goes through the water. ~ Masaoka Shiki

Over the wintry forest, winds howl in rage with no leaves to blow. ~ Soseki Natsume

Haiku poems have originated over 300 years ago in Japan. These short poems help capture the moment in brief. In haiku, the human nature is linked to nature. The following haiku examples about nature will help you understand this idea.

Sick on a journey- Over parched fields Dreams wander on. ~ Basho

You rice-field maidens! The only things not muddy Are the songs you sing. ~ Raizan

Whispering to her-- the spotted fawn eyes the outstretched water lily. ~ David McMurray

The butterflies dance Brilliant colors of rainbows Rippling like water.

Earth whirls a chorus. Fluttering fair women talk. Winter sways gifts.

Warm sun glinting, thousands of unexpected pools. ~ Paul Brown

Pausing halfway up the stair-- white chrysanthemums. ~ Elizabeth Searle Lamb

Willow leaves fallen clear waters dried up stones one place and another. ~ Yosa Buson

Rain cleared-- for a while the wild rose's fragrance. ~ Takahama Kyoshi

I want to sleep Swat the flies Softly, please. ~ Masaoka Shiki

The teacher's drawer has a frog in it the class very quiet. ~ Karma Tenzing Wangchuk

Red tricycles trip. Goofy tinkles blancmanges. The noses giggle.

You're always typing. Well, let's see you ignore my sitting on your hands.

My life is Jello Sitting and waiting in the bowl Patiently to gel.

Cherry, apple, rose, blossoms in countless colors-- each one of them pink. ~ Paul Brown

These are a few examples of haiku poems. As you can see, the haiku poems are simple and to the point. They easily explain the idea or moment in 3 simple lines. This type of poetry is very interesting to write as well as read. I hope this article on haiku, examples of haiku poems has helped you with enough ideas and examples of this interesting poem writing style.