Haiku Haiku In Japanese, haiku are traditionally printed in a single vertical line while haiku in English often appear in three lines to parallel the three phrases of Japanese haiku. Previously called "hokku", haiku was given its current name by the Japanese writer Masaoka Shiki at the end of the 19th century. In Japanese haiku a "kireji", or cutting word, typically appears at the end of one of the verse's three phrases. A "kireji" fills a role somewhat analogous to a "caesura" in classical western poetry or to a volta in sonnets. Depending on which cutting word is chosen, and its
Haiku Mexican poet José Juan Tablada is credited with popularising haiku in his country, reinforced by the publication of two collections composed entirely in that form: "Un dia" (1919), and "El jarro de flores" (1922). In the introduction to the latter, Tablada noted that two young Mexicans, Rafael Lozano and Carlos Gutiérrez Cruz, had also begun writing them. They were followed soon after by Carlos Pellicer, Xavier Villaurrutia, and by Jaime Torres Bodet in his collection "Biombo" (1925). Much later, Octavio Paz included many haiku in "Piedras Sueltas" (1955). Elsewhere the Ecuadorian poet and diplomat Jorge Carrera Andrade included haiku among