Here are some haiku examples and their meanings.
HAIKU EXAMPLES – This is a traditional Japanese poem with three lines and 17 syllables; here are some examples.
WHAT IS A HAIKU? This traditional Japanese poem is composed of three lines with 17 syllables. This is written in a 5-7-5 syllable count wherein the topics are often focused on nature, emphasizing simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression.
Its origin can be traced back to the 13th century as an opening phrase of a “renga.” A “renga” is an oral poem made of a hundred stanzas, and in the 16th century, it departed from “renga.” A century later, Matsuo Basho mastered this, and he wrote this classic:
An old pond!
A frog jumps in—
the sound of water.
The philosophy of writing this poem focused on the following:
- brief moment in time
- use of provocative, colorful images
- an ability to be read in one breath
- a sense of sudden enlightenment
Other examples of Haikus:
“The Light Of A Candle” by Yosa Buson
The light of a candle
is transferred to another candle—
spring twilight.
“Haiku Ambulance” by Richard Brautigan
A piece of green pepper
fell
off the wooden salad bowl:
so what?
Examples with meanings:
At the windowpane,
sleet; and here in the dark house—
the ticking of clocks.
by: O. Mabson Southard
This shows a moment of introspective stillness focused on the quiet parts of life
Love between us is
speech and breath, loving you is
a long river running.
by: Sonia Sanchez
It shows the similarities between love and nature.
Fathers die, but sons
catch the grave chill, looking in
at lost forgiveness
by: Hayden Carruth
This depicts the complex relationship of fathers and their sons.
Look at the white moon
The sphinx does not question more.
Turn away your eyes.
by: Lewis G. Alexander
The poem depicted the sphinx as enduring mysteries.