Bashō, a 17th century Japanese poet/monk is said to be the originator of the haibun (and haiku) forms. Here's one passage from his travel journals that will serve as an example of what haibun is.
Hiraizumi
Matsuo Bashō
It was here that the glory of three generations of the
Fujiwara family passed away like a snatch of empty dream. The ruins of
the main gate greeted my eyes a mile before I came upon Lord Hidehira's
mansion, which had been utterly reduced to rice-paddies. Mount Kinkei
alone retained its original shape. As I climbed one of the foothills
called Takadate, where Lord Yoshitsune met his death, I saw the River
Kitakami running through the plains of Nambu in its full force, and its
tributary, Koromogawa, winding along the site of the Izumigashiro castle
and pouring into the big river directly below my eyes. The ruined house
of Lord Yasuhira was located to the north of the barrier-gate of
Koromogaseki, thus blocking the entrance from the Nambu area and forming
a protection against barbarous intruders from the north. Indeed, many a
feat of chivalrous valor was repeated here during the short span of the
three generations, but both the actors and the deeds have long been
dead and passed into oblivion. When a country is defeated, there remain
only mountains and rivers, and on a ruined castle in spring only grasses
thrive. I sat down on my hat and wept bitterly till I almost forgot
time.
summer grasses
all that remains
of soldiers' dreams
all that remains
of soldiers' dreams
Notes: from Matsuo Bashō, The Narrow Road to the Deep North [prose translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa, haiku translated by L. Stryk
- Full text of Bashō's Narrow Road to the Deep North
- Bashō's Biography
- Ray Rasmussen's Commentary on Bashō's "Hiraizumi"
- Ray Rasmussen's Haibun modelled on Bashō's "Hiraizumi"
- Ray Rasmussen's Haiku Website