The document provides information about the Japanese haiku poet Issa Kobayashi who lived from 1763-1827. It notes that Issa had a deep compassion for all creatures, noticed small things in nature, and wrote haikus about humble animals. It also mentions that Issa had a sad personal life, being poor and losing all his children, but took solace in nature. The document then provides examples of Issa's haikus and instructions for writing haikus following the typical haiku form of 3 lines and 17 syllables with a reference to nature or season.

1. HAIKU
POETRY

2. A Famous Poet
 Issa Kobayashi was
born in Japan in 1763,
more than two
hundred years ago.
by Shumpo Muramatsu

3. • Issa had a poet’s eyes. He noticed
things many people would not. He
took the time to look, to listen, and to
enjoy the movements of the many
small creatures who shared his world,
like sparrows, crickets, and frogs.
• Issa had a compassionate feeling for
all creatures, including fleas and flies.
He felt even common houseflies have
a right to live, and would not swat
them.

4. In many ways, Issa’s life was a sad one.
His mother died before he was two, and
his own four sons and a daughter all
died before they were a year old, a great
sorrow to a man who loved children as
much as Issa did.

5. Issa was a poor man and spent much
of his life in solitary wandering.
Perhaps it was the loneliness of these
years that made him value all the
animals, birds, and insects who shared
his house and garden and kept him
company in his travels about the
countryside.
Issa’s House

6. At the age of 25, Issa began to write
haiku poems. Many of his poems are
about the humble creatures he loved.

7. Here is one of Issa’s haiku poems.
A few flies and I
Keep house together
In this humble home.

8. This is the way one of Issa’s poems
looked when he wrote them.

9. Style in Writing Poetry
 Some poems contain a beautiful
image.
 Some are funny.
 Some make you think.

10. Swatted out
From everywhere else,
The mosquitoes come here.

11. A measuring worm takes the length
of the wooden support
that holds up my house.

12. The frog looks as if he had just
belched a cloud
into the sky.

13. My hut is so small,
but please do practice your jumping,
fleas of mine!

14. If you are tender to them,
the young sparrows
will poop on you.

15. The mosquitoes!
They have come for their lunch to the man
having a nap.

16. I asked him how old he was,
and the boy dressed up in a new kimono
stretched forth all five fingers.

17. HAIKU
• It was created centuries ago.
• It was treasured for its pure form and
exquisite content.
• Western culture has grown to love and
respect this special type of poetry.

18. Writing your own haiku is easy.
Follow these seven easy steps.

19. Step 1: Form
Your Haiku should have three lines with or without
a seventeen-syllable count. It should be one breath
long.
old pond-
frog jumps in
sound of water
- Matsuo Basho (Japanese poet, 1644-1694)

20. Step 2: Image
Your Haiku should have a descriptive image. For
example, not a “flower,” but instead a “purple iris
in the sun”.
evening breeze-
water splashes against
a blue heron’s legs
- Yosa Buson (Japanese poet, 1716-1783)

21. Step 3: Kigo (a season word)
Your Haiku should refer to nature and hint at the
season or weather.
off they leap
grasshopper mother and child
and turn to grass
- Katsushi Hosokawa (Japenese poet, age 10)

22. Step 4: Here and Now
Basho said, “Haiku is simply what is happening in
this place, at this moment.”
NOTE:
You should write from real experience, not
imagination; record the present moment.

23. for a second a butterfly
settles on my cheek
I must not breathe
- Myriam Suchet (French poet, age 15)

24. Step 5: Feeling
Your Haiku should not explain or tell, but instead
show the feeling through your image.
along with spring leaves
my child’s teeth
are coming in
- Nakamura Kusatao (Japanese poet, 1901-1983)

25. Step 6: Surprise!
Your Haiku should have an “ah!” moment that
wakes us up.
in a mouse’s nest
someone’s love letter
was found
- Unknown Japanese Poet

26. Step 7: Compassion
Your Haiku should express openheartedness
toward nature.
Don’t hit the fly-
He prays with his hands
And his feet
- Kobayashi Issa (Japanese poet, 1763-1827)

27. HAIKU FORM
 Three lines
 Syllable pattern of 5,7,5
 Usually doesn’t rhyme
 Usually about nature
 Often includes a reference to a season
 Often a single sentence, but may be sentence
fragments

28. Now try writing your own!
