What Is a Haiku? Definition, Rules, and Examples

A haiku is a very short poem, usually three lines long, that captures a single moment through a clear, concrete image. It shows more than it explains, it leaves the last step to the reader, and it does not need to rhyme.

The best-known rule is the 5-7-5 pattern: five syllables, then seven, then five. That rule is a convention, and poets who write in English still disagree about it. This page sorts out which haiku rules are traditional, which are habits, and which ones this journal ever asked of its poets.

Is a haiku always 5-7-5?

No. The 575 haiku taught in school grows out of Japanese, where a traditional haiku counts sound units called on, usually seventeen of them, arranged five, seven, five. An on is shorter than an English syllable, so the two are not the same measure. The Haiku Society of America says that about twelve English syllables approximates the length of seventeen on, and that English-language haiku poets abandoned syllable counting decades ago to concentrate on how images meet.

The same society says that writing 5-7-5 in English is not wrong, though it adds that the habit reflects a misunderstanding of how on compare with syllables. So the honest answer is that 5-7-5 is allowed and often lovely, but it is not required. Plenty of teachers still assign it, which is why a search for haiku requirements so often lands on the number seventeen. Both camps have strong poems, and this archive holds both.

Mauricio Gonzalez's autumn poem, which opens THE YELLOW LEAVES FALL, counts out to five, seven, and five. Sarah Clark Monagle's poem ending on SOUNDS GREEN is far shorter, and it loses nothing.

Haiku rules and format: what is actually required

If you want a short list of haiku rules that nearly everyone accepts, it is this. Use three lines, short enough to say in one breath. Capture one moment with concrete images. Let the image carry the feeling instead of naming it. After that the rules get softer. Rhyme is not used. A season reference is traditional but not universal. A pause or turn is common. Syllable counts are optional.

Length is easy to check in this archive. About 98 percent of the poems, 880 of 898, are set in three lines, and the typical poem runs about eleven words. The few exceptions are experiments, including linked sequences.

So haiku format, in practice, means three short lines in the order the poet chose, with the line breaks doing the work that rhyme and punctuation do in other poems.

Season words (kigo)

Traditional haiku include a kigo, a word or phrase that helps identify the season of the experience in the poem. Snow, a firefly, or a harvest moon can each do it.

In English the season word is often just the season. K.A. Cummings opens with AUTUMN NIGHT and lets a pair of hands scoop up the moon. William Landis begins with SUMMER MORNING before a grasshopper meets a blade of grass. Not every poem needs one. The society noted in 1973 that the range of climates in the United States makes it impossible to put a recognizable season word into every American haiku.

If you like the tradition, you can browse autumn haiku, winter haiku, spring haiku, and summer haiku in the archive.

Cutting words (kireji)

A kireji is a cutting word. The society describes it as a sort of spoken punctuation that marks a pause or gives emphasis to one part of the poem. English has no exact equivalent, so poets use a dash, an ellipsis, a colon, or simply the end of a line.

Roger Pfingston's poem cuts after PORCH LIGHT SHINING BACK with an ellipsis, and the next line lands on ice. Linzi Garcia's firefly poem turns on a dash before THIS IS WHAT LOVE IS. In both, the cut is the place where the poem asks the reader to connect two things.

Haiku versus senryu

A senryu has the same shape as a haiku and a different subject. The society defines it as a poem, structurally similar to haiku, that highlights the foibles of human nature, usually with humor or satire. A haiku usually turns toward nature and the season, and a senryu turns toward people.

The line between them is blurry, and the society's own notes admit borderline cases. Miriam Sagan's poem about an OLD COUPLE WHO CAN'T remember is a clear senryu: all people, no season. Bill Melton's poem addressed to GRANDDADDY LONGLEGS sits on the border, because the subject is a spider and the joke is entirely human. A poem can be enjoyed without settling the label.

Do haikus have titles?

They can, and in this archive many do. Of the poems here, 289 are printed as Untitled, and the rest carry a title, roughly two out of every three. Neither choice is a mistake.

The titles in the archive do different jobs. Some echo the poem: Jackie Maugh Robinson's falling-leaf poem is titled YELLOW LEAVES and begins with the same words. Some name a subject the poem only hints at: Nancy Gauquier's poem about a spirit lifting off is titled DEATH, and it ends with THE USES OF WINGS. And some carry the joke, as with Judith Kerman's ENGLISH TEACHER HAIKU, where a BIRD FOOTPRINT ESSAY on the ice goes ungraded. Without the title the poem is pleasant. With it, the poem is funny.

A fair rule is to add a title only when it gives the reader something the three lines do not. Otherwise leave the poem untitled.

This journal's open form

This journal took the open view. Its guidelines say it looks only to the content of the poem, so a submission was judged on what it did, not on whether it counted to seventeen or carried a season word. Each issue held exactly 50 haiku, and the poems run from strict 5-7-5 to a handful of words.

The journal has closed, and its archive stays free to read. Start with the issues, or go by subject with nature haiku and humorous haiku.

Questions readers ask

Does a haiku have to be 5-7-5?

No. Japanese haiku count sound units, not English syllables, and the Haiku Society of America notes that English-language poets abandoned strict syllable counting decades ago. Writing 5-7-5 is allowed, but it is a choice.

Do haikus have titles?

Often, but they do not have to. In this archive 289 poems are printed as Untitled and the rest carry titles. Add one only if it gives the reader something the poem does not already say.

What is the difference between haiku and senryu?

Both are short and structurally alike. A haiku usually centers on nature and the season, and a senryu centers on human foibles, often with humor. Some poems sit between the two.

Does a haiku need a season word?

Traditionally yes, but not in every English poem. A kigo helps place the poem in a season, and many poets use one, though the society has said that climate differences make a season word impractical in every American haiku.

Sources

• https://hsa-haiku.org/hsa-definitions.html
• https://hsa-haiku.org/hsa-definitions-2004.html

Last reviewed November 2026. Poems are the work of the poets credited and link to their pages in the original issues.

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