At the very heart of traditional haiku is the kigo, or season word. For centuries, Japanese poets have used these specific words to instantly evoke a time of year, grounding their poetry in the rhythms of the natural world.
Whether you are looking for short haiku poems about nature to read, or you need inspiration for your own poetry, this hub gathers some of the best examples categorized by the four seasons.
Spring Haiku Ideas for Students & Beginners
Spring is the season of birth, renewal, and sudden warmth. Traditional spring kigo include cherry blossoms, melting snow, plum blossoms, nightingales, and frogs.
Matsuo Bashō:
Spring passes away—
Birds cry out, and tears are in
The eyes of fishes.
Kobayashi Issa:
O snail
Climb Mount Fuji
But slowly, slowly!
Modern Spring Idea (For Students):
Muddy puddles glint (5)
Rainboots splashing in the wet (7)
Robin finds a worm (5)
Summer Haiku Poem Examples
Summer haikus often capture feelings of intense heat, slow sluggishness, vibrating energy, or sudden afternoon thunderstorms. Common summer kigo include cicadas, lightning, fireflies, and sunflowers.
Matsuo Bashō:
In the cicada's cry
No sign can foretell
How soon it must die.
Yosa Buson:
A sudden summer shower—
See the man clutching his horse's mane!
While I run for cover.
Modern Summer Idea:
Sizzling on the grill (5)
Mosquitoes bite at my ankles (7)
Sticky ice cream cone (5)
Autumn Haiku Examples in English
Autumn is historically the most popular season for haiku. It carries a sense of mono no aware—a beautiful but melancholy awareness of the transience of life. Autumn kigo include falling leaves, the harvest moon, crickets, and scarecrows.
Matsuo Bashō:
On a withered branch
A crow has alighted:
Nightfall in autumn.
Masaoka Shiki:
Night, and once again,
the while I wait for you, cold wind
turns into rain.
Modern Autumn Idea:
Crisp golden leaf falls (5)
The scent of woodsmoke drifting (7)
Sweaters from the box (5)
Easy Winter Haiku Examples
Winter haikus focus on stillness, endurance, bareness, and the bright, biting cold. Winter kigo include frost, snow, bare trees, and winter moons.
Yosa Buson:
The piercing chill I feel:
my dead wife's comb, in our bedroom,
under my heel...
Kobayashi Issa:
In this world
we walk on the roof of hell
gazing at flowers.
Modern Winter Idea:
Breath hangs in the air (5)
Footprints crunching through the white (7)
Coffee warms my hands (5)
Write Your Own Seasonal Haiku
Now that you've explored haiku about rain and seasons, it is your turn to write one. If you want a fun challenge, pick a season you are not currently experiencing and try to vividly capture its essence using the 5-7-5 syllable structure.
For more ideas on what to write about, check out our 50+ Haiku Writing Prompts.