Haiku in non-Japanese haiku or by modern writers of Japanese "free-form" haiku. The best-known Japanese haiku is Bashō's "old pond": This separates into "on" as: Translated: Another haiku by Bashō: This separates into "on" as: Translated: This haiku by Bashō illustrates that he was not always constrained to a 5-7-5 "on" pattern. It contains 18 "on" in the pattern 6-7-5 ("ō" or is treated as two "on".) This separates into "on" as: Translated: This haiku by Issa illustrates that 17 Japanese "on" do not always equate to 17 English syllables ("nan" counts as two "on" and "nonda" as three.) This separates
Matsuo Bashō poems continued into the 20th century, with notable works by Yamamoto Kenkichi, Imoto Nōichi, and Ogata Tsutomu. The 20th century also saw translations of Bashō's poems into languages and editions around the world. The position of Bashō in Western eyes as the "haiku" poet "par excellence" gives great influence to his poetry: Western preference for "haiku" over more traditional forms such as "tanka" or "renga" have rendered archetypal status to Bashō as Japanese poet and "haiku" as Japanese poetry. Some western scholars even believe that Bashō invented haiku. The impressionistic and concise nature of Bashō's verse greatly influenced Ezra Pound,