Haibun

Prose travel journal punctuated by haiku — the form Bashō walked into Japanese literature.

Specifications & Metrics

type

Hybrid prose-poetry form

origin

17th-century Japan

originator

Matsuo Bashō

meter

Prose with haiku (5-7-5)

lines count

0

Core Principles & Analysis

• Bashō's Narrow Road to the Deep North is the form's monument.
• It joins terse travel prose with haiku stations of attention.
• Modern English writers use it for journal and journey alike.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Haibun