Haiku by Otsuji
 

drizzle in late spring ~
but through the pale trees appears
the path to the sea

Part two of Freshwater is full of the kind of images which make good haiku.

Haiku are poems written in a Japanese verse form, traditionally of exactly seventeen syllables in three lines (5-7-5).

Lucien Stryk writes authoritatively about the haiku in the introduction to Basho: On Love and Barley. The classic haiku should evoke a season and focus on a beautiful evocation of the commonplace.

Sabiconveys the contented solitariness which is in harmony with the sense of detachment which makes a classic example of haiku a celebration of gentle objectivity.

Wabi is the term for the haiku's characteristic appreciation of the commonplace.

Karumi, or 'lightness', is the result of the calm realisationof profoundly felt truths.

Each poem should also include kireji or a 'cutting word' which is often best represented in English as a pause in the punctuation.

Notice how this haiku has been carefully translated into Portuguese. Now you work it into English!