Some Thoughts On Line And Syllable Count In English-Language ...

Home » How Many Syllables In Haiku » Some Thoughts On Line And Syllable Count In English-Language ...

Maybe your like

Skip to content Menu
  • Facebook
  • Bluesky
  • Threads
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tiktok
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Management Team
    • Committees Team
    • Features Team
    • Publications Team
    • Friends of the Foundation
    • Seeking Volunteers
    • News
    • THF Volunteer Appreciation
    • Policies & Code of Conduct
  • Explore
    • New to The Haiku Foundation?
    • New to Haiku?
    • Haiku of the Day Archive
    • Haiku Outside the Box
    • Digital Library
    • Blog
    • Publications
    • HaikuLife: THF's Video Project
    • Haiku Around the World
    • THF Haiku App
    • THF YouTube Channel
    • Archived Haiku Sites
  • Learn
    • Contemporary Haiku
    • Education Resources
    • Events
    • Haikupedia
    • JUXTA
    • Resources
  • Interact
    • Haiku Dialogue
    • Haiga Galleries
    • Monthly Kukai
    • Renku Sessions
    • re:Virals
    • Haiku Registry
  • Awards
    • Touchstone Awards Overview
    • Touchstone Distinguished Books Award
    • Touchstone Award for Individual Poems
    • Touchstone Award for Individual Haibun
    • Touchstone Archive
  • Donate
    • Ways to Donate to THF
    • Shop
  • Contact
  • February 21, 2021
  • Julie Bloss Kelsey
  • New to Haiku
One of the most confusing things when you are new to haiku is discovering that what you may have learned in school – haiku is a short poem from Japan written in 3 lines with 17 syllables – is not all there is to know about haiku. At best, this definition represents an incomplete understanding of the form. Writing in three lineswith seventeen syllablesmight not be haiku. Haiku can be written in three lines with 17 syllables: 5 syllables on the first line, 7 on the second, and 5 on the third. But haiku are not defined by syllable count and they don’t have to be written in this way.
“There is simply no hard and fast syllabic rule for an English-language haiku today. (Sorry!) — Scott Mason, The Wonder Code
In Japanese, haiku is written in 17 on, or sound units. On don’t translate directly into English-language syllables. Some haiku scholars believe this misconception has led to English-language haiku that are too wordy. This is why you often see modern haiku with a syllable count of less than seventeen. Haiku can be written with one, two, three, four, or more lines. Although three-line English-language haiku have historically been most common, one-line haiku, or monoku, are growing in popularity.
into the afterlife red leaves     — Peggy Willis Lyles
You don’t see as many two or four line haiku today as you do three-line haiku or monoku, but they are occasionally published.
binary star…the cat’s eyes    —Julie Bloss Kelsey

Some poets have stretched the bounds of what people think haiku can be. The following poem by Marlene Mountain, published in 1976, challenges the idea of a three (or less) line count and explores concrete imagery in haiku. (You can read an analysis of this poem here).

on this cold                spring 1              2 night  3    4               kittens                  wet                    5 — Marlene Mountain

Other poets, like Cor van den Heuvel, have explored how few words or lines one must include in haiku. One of his most famous haiku, first published in 1963, consists of a single word on a blank page. (I won’t spoil this one if you haven’t seen it; you can view his poem here.) Exploration of the size, shape, and line count in haiku continues today. This experimental poem by Kat Lehmann, which first appeared in Human/Kind Journal in September 2020, thoroughly challenges the 5/7/5 model of haiku. Lehmann writes, “Sudo-ku can be read both horizontally and vertically (like a sudoku puzzle) and has a theme.”   Future fresh takes on haiku will undoubtedly continue to explore and test the anticipated line and syllable count in English-language haiku. At the same time, there will be poets who continue to write haiku in the more traditional three lines with 17 syllables. Both approaches are valid. For such a tiny poem, haiku certainly captivates, invites discussion, and defies definition! So, where does this leave you when first writing haiku? My best advice is this: read haiku widely and study the work of poets you like. Try to understand what it is in their poems that moves you. Read your own haiku aloud and follow what works best for conveying the juxtaposition of images and the experience that you want to share. Let your words flow naturally. Make sure that you aren’t sacrificing readability to fit a syllable count. And, always, try to enjoy the writing process. If you like writing your poetry, your audience will likely enjoy reading it too.

Julie Bloss Kelsey

Julie Bloss Kelsey is the current Secretary of The Haiku Foundation. She started writing haiku in 2009, after discovering science fiction haiku (scifaiku). She lives in Maryland with her husband and kids. Julie's first print poetry collection, Grasping the Fading Light: A Journey Through PTSD, won the 2021 Women’s International Haiku Contest from Sable Books. Her ebook of poetry, The Call of Wildflowers, is available for free online through Moth Orchid Press (formerly Title IX Press). Her most recent collection, After Curfew, is available from Cuttlefish Books. Connect with her on Instagram @julieblosskelsey.

Share This

  • Facebook
  • Email

Comments (23)

  1. i have clear all my doubts related to syllables after reading this wonderfull article thnks for providing a simple understanding article…

  2. thnks mate!!!!!!! all of the above examples are great….

  3. ❤️

    1. Thank you for explaining it simply. I write modern haiku and I teaching creative writing to a class of adults but I keep coming up against the 17 sylables rule.

      1. Hi Karen, I’m glad this post has been useful. I appreciate you leaving feedback. If there’s anything else you’d like to see us cover, let me know! I may not have the answer, but I can hopefully find someone who does. Thanks again!

  4. I remember when I was teaching courses in education. When beginning in any field, it seems there is a basic vocabulary to learn and some history of the field. Then a conversation begins, and grows – always more to learn. When we began the education page work in 2012, I brought my background in the effective instruction literature. Jim Kacian was the haiku editor. I remember we defined haiku as a short poem – the lessons begin with elementary grades – and said that counting syllables is optional. Jim helped me there – I would not have attempted haiku lessons without THF. We also discussed evaluation, and stressed that the goal was for all students to enjoy haiku. This is from memory, and others may have more to add.

  5. My pleasure, Julie!

  6. Thanks Barrie!

    I have a few about fingers, and also thumbs! :-)

    a mole’s extra thumb– I re-arrange all my bones around you again

    Alan Summers Publication Credit: Scope vol. 60 no. 2 (Fellowship of Australian Writers, Queensland journal, March 2014)

    Yes, haiku is fun, and liberating, and it let us run riot!

  7. Thanks a lot for sharing this interesting post. I am not English mother tongue and started writing haiku about three years ago. It was a joke at first, it is now a challenge and a pleasure. I think your suggestions are inspiring and will follow them.

    walking to work with busy ants

    Best wishes,

    Mariangela Canzi

    1. Mariangela, thank you for spending your time with us and sharing your work! I’m glad that you found this post useful.

  8. ten fingers ten toes three (or more) haiku

  9. Thank you Julie for bringing some sanity into the discussion about what haiku is and is not. Especially about lineation and syllabification. I’ve never seen a sudo-ku… need to try my hand at that :) regards ~beto

    1. Thanks ~beto! I firmly believe that writing haiku should be fun. I can’t say that editing is always fun, but writing haiku should (hopefully!) start out that way.

  10. This knowledge is liberating.

    losing count— now my fingers can rest

  11. Loving this series of advisory sessions and fabulous choice of haiku!

    fingers twisted by age she turns wires round branches of bonsai

  12. How cool it is to see a variety of haiku in all shapes and sizes. I’m delighted to have a poem on the list!

    1. Thanks for sharing your work with us, Kat!

  13. Thank you! They are lovely and wonderful examples.

    warm regards Alan Summers Call of the Page

    1. Hi Alan, excellent article . . . and hope all is well with you. I responded with a toe and finger count which I’d like to share with you, thanks for taking a peek:

      ten fingers ten toes three (or more) haiku

      1. Julie has created a lovely and deeply helpful series. Haiku can let us explore both poetry and ourselves, and does not require the need to be controlled by us. It’s always more rewarding when we let haiku take us to places we didn’t know we had in ourselves.

        *

        lemon-scented hospital beds how they hold our hands as blackbirds

        Alan Summers Publication credit: Weird Laburnum (July 1st 2020)

        1. Alan, I appreciate that you take the time to read and comment on these posts. :)

          1. Thank you for explaining it simply. I write modern haiku but I keep having to explain why it’s often less than 17 sylables. I will add this link to my resources.

          2. Thanks Julie!!! :-)

Comments are closed.

Haiku BasicsJulie Bloss KelseyNew to Haiku Search

Categories

CategoriesSelect CategoryFeatured Content (518)Features (5,145) Book-of-the-Week (574) EarthRise Rolling Haiku Collaboration (46) Education Resources (23) Events (2) Haiga Galleries (96) Haiku Bridges (4) Haiku Dialogue (361) Haiku for Healing (6) Haiku of the Day (1,840) Haiku Registry (23) haiku::photo (5) HaikuLife (183) Haikupedia (58) Juxtapositions (6) Librarian’s Cache (33) New to Haiku (148) re:Virals (570) Renku Sessions (434) THF Monthly Kukai (456) Touchstone Awards (272)Haiku of the Day News (190)International Haiku Poetry Day (140)News (728)Past Features (859) A Sense of Place (27) Bookstories (44) Craft (16) Creative Blooms (19) drops (6) Dunes (1) Envoys (7) Essences (9) Field Notes (2) Fluences (3) Haiku Comics of the Hamilton Bay (22) Haiku for Parkinson’s (17) Haiku in the Workplace (57) Haiku Maven (32) Haiku Music Challenge (91) Haiku Puzzler (118) Haiku Windows (27) Headsets (4) In Search of Basho (56) Montage (33) Old Pond Comics (173) Periplum (15) Quicksilver (6) Sails (15) Season by Season (24) Second Life (4) Teaching Stories (19) The Kindness of Strangers (6) young leaves (4)pre-test (1)THF Fundraiser (129)THF Publications (2)THF Survey (85)Video Archive (72) THF Galleries (24) THF Interviews (10) THF Lectures (4) THF Master Clips (2) THF Readings (7) THF Reports (6) THF Video Haiga (15)Volunteer Appreciation (5)World of Haiku (59)

Read Haiku

Copyright ©2025 The Haiku Foundation. All Rights Reserved. Website by Scala Design. Privacy Policy Back To Top Search Fortnight: The Season of Thanks & Giving | November 27 – December 6

Support THF

Contact Matthew Markworth Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Report Violations (for volunteer staff)
  • EmailThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Name* First Last
  • Email*
  • Your Position within the Organization*
  • Location of Violation*Please share where the violation occurred (include a link if possible).
  • Description of Violation*Please include any applicable user names and other details about the violation. If you happen to get screenshots, please email them to the President.
  • Description of Moderation Enforcement*Please include any steps you took or conversations you had with the user.

Δ

CLOSE Alert Us about Possible Code of Conduct Violations
  • CompanyThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Name* First Last
  • Email*
  • Description of Potential Violation*Please include any applicable user names and a link to the page where the violation appears on our site. Any other details you can provide are helpful. We appreciate your help in keeping THF a safe and welcome place!

Δ

CLOSE General Contact Form
  • InstagramThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Name* First Last
  • Email*
  • Subject*
  • Message*

Δ

CLOSE Contact Valérie Rivoallon Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Message(Required)Please include a complete description of the event as you'd like it to appear (dates, times, name of organization, contact info, applicable links, etc.) To best facilitate timely postings, we ask that you send your submission at least 30 days in advance​ of when you need it posted.

Δ

CLOSE Contact Sonam Chhoki Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Marta Chocilowska Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Katherine Munro Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact John Stevenson Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Theresa A. Cancro

Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Keith Evetts Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Scott Mason Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Ce Rosenow Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Marion Clarke Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Julie Bloss Kelsey Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Dan Campbell Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Thomas R. Borkowski Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Robin Smith Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Shloka Shankar Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Bruce H. Feingold Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Jim Kacian Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE Contact Dave Russo Your Name(Required) First Last Email(Required) Comments(Required)

Δ

CLOSE

Tag » How Many Syllables In Haiku