What is a haiku?
haiku , unrhymed poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively. The haiku first emerged in Japanese literature during the 17th century, as a terse reaction to elaborate poetic traditions, though it did not become known by the name haiku until the 19th century. The term haiku is derived from the first element of the word haikai (a humorous form of renga , or linked-verse poem) and the second element of the word hokku (the initial stanza of a renga ). The hokku, which set the tone of a renga , had to mention in its three lines such subjects as the season, time of day, and the dominant features of the landscape, making it almost an independent poem. The hokku (often interchangeably called haikai) became known as the haiku late in the 19th century, when it was entirely divested of its original function of opening a sequence of verse. T...