Influence of Form on a Haiku

It is evident that the form of a Haiku has a large influence on both its content and the messages or images portrayed by the poem. A traditional Haiku contains references to nature and alludes to a season, which limits what the poet can write about. It will also customarily contain only three lines and follow a 5-7-5 syllable count, which limits how much the poet can write. Due to these two limitations, a Haiku will normally contain three separate, but connected, images of nature. They are not rich in figurative meaning, but do present imagery in a captivating way due to the need to be brief but effective in explanation and details.

- M. Power