Editing Haiku (section)

==Traditional elements==
===''Kiru'' and ''kireji''===
{{Main|Kireji}}
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 analogous to that of a ''[[caesura]]'' in classical Western poetry or to a [[Volta (literature)|volta]] in [[sonnet]]s.<ref>{{cite video|first=Elliott|last=Manley|title=Approaching haiku from the west}} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTJtTvGTu2A&t=110</ref>{{better source needed|date=April 2022}} A ''kireji'' helps mark rhythmic divisions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adiss |first1=Stephen |title=The Art of Haiku |date=2022 |publisher=Shambhala Publications, Inc. |location=Boulder, Colorado, USA |isbn=978-1-64547-121-9 |pages=4–5}}</ref> Depending on which ''kireji'' is chosen and its position within the verse, it may briefly cut the stream of thought, suggesting a parallel between the preceding and following phrases, or it may provide a dignified ending, concluding the verse with a heightened sense of closure.<ref>{{cite book| first=Haruo |last=Shirane |title=Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900 |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-231-10991-8 |page=521 }}</ref>

The ''kireji'' lends the verse structural support,<ref>[http://www.haiku.jp/haiku/nyumon_English_03.htm Brief Notes on "Kire-ji"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827041242/http://www.haiku.jp/haiku/nyumon_English_03.htm |date=2009-08-27 }}, Association of Japanese Classical Haiku. Retrieved 2008-10-16.</ref> allowing it to stand as an independent poem.<ref>Steven D. Carter. ''Three Poets at Yuyama. Sogi and Yuyama Sangin Hyakuin, 1491'', in ''Monumenta Nipponica'', Vol. 33, No. 3. (Autumn, 1978), p.249</ref><ref>Konishi Jin'ichi; Karen Brazell; Lewis Cook, ''The Art of Renga'', in ''Journal of Japanese Studies'', Vol. 2, No. 1. (Autumn, 1975), p.39</ref> The use of ''kireji'' distinguishes haiku and hokku from second and subsequent verses of [[renku]]; which may employ semantic and syntactic disjuncture, even to the point of occasionally end-stopping a phrase with a {{nihongo|sentence-ending particle|終助詞|shūjoshi}}.  However, [[renku]] typically employ ''kireji''.<ref>Sato, Hiroaki. ''One Hundred Frogs: from renga to haiku to English'', Weatherhill 1983, {{ISBN|0-8348-0176-0}}</ref>

In English, since ''kireji'' have no direct equivalent, poets sometimes use punctuation such as a dash or ellipsis, or an implied break to create a juxtaposition intended to prompt the reader to reflect on the relationship between the two parts.

The ''kireji'' in the Bashō examples "old pond" and "the wind of Mt Fuji" are both "ya" ({{nihongo2|や}}). Neither the remaining Bashō example nor the Issa example contain a ''kireji''. However, they do both balance a fragment in the first five ''on'' against a phrase in the remaining 12 ''on'' (it may not be apparent from the English translation of the Issa that the first five ''on'' mean "Edo's rain").

===''On''===
{{Main|On (Japanese prosody)}}
In comparison with English verse typically characterized by syllabic [[Meter (poetry)#English|meter]], Japanese verse counts sound units known as ''on'' or [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]e. Traditional haiku is usually [[fixed verse]] that consists of 17 ''on'', in three phrases of five, seven, and five ''on'', respectively. Among modern poems, traditionalist haiku continue to use the 5-7-5 pattern while free form haiku do not.<ref name="literary encyclopedia">{{cite book |last1=Jonsson |first1=Herbert |title=The Literary Encyclopedia |date=September 2019 |publisher=The Literary Dictionary Company Limited |url=https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19528 |access-date=11 July 2024 |chapter=Modern Haiku}}</ref> However, one of the [[#Examples|examples below]] illustrates that traditional haiku masters were not always constrained by the 5-7-5 pattern either. The free form haiku was advocated for by [[Ogiwara Seisensui]] and his disciples.<!-- This information is summarized from Keene's "Dawn to the West" and various encyclopedia articles found at https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%BF%B3%E5%8F%A5-112775 Proper citations to be added later. -->

Although the word ''on'' is sometimes translated as "syllable", the true meaning is more nuanced. One ''on'' in Japanese is counted for a short syllable, two for an [[Vowel length|elongated vowel]] or [[Gemination|doubled consonant]], and one for an "n" at the end of a syllable. Thus, the word "haibun", though counted as two syllables in English, is counted as four ''on'' in Japanese (ha-i-bu-n); and the word "''on''" itself, which English-speakers would view as a single syllable, comprises two ''on'': the short vowel '''o''' and the [[b:Japanese/Pronunciation#Moraic nasal|moraic nasal]] '''[[Japanese phonology#Moraic nasal|n]]'''. This is illustrated by the Issa haiku below, which contains 17 ''on'' but only 15 syllables. Conversely, some [[Yōon|sounds]], such as "kyo" ({{nihongo2|きょ}}) may look like two syllables to English speakers but are in fact a single ''on'' (as well as a single syllable) in Japanese.

In 1973, the [[Haiku Society of America]] noted that the norm for writers of [[haiku in English]] was to use 17 syllables, but they also noted a trend toward shorter haiku.<ref name="HSA defs">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hsa-haiku.org/archives/HSA_Definitions_2004.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414105733/http://www.hsa-haiku.org/archives/HSA_Definitions_2004.html|archive-date=14 April 2021|title=Official Definitions of Haiku and Related Terms|publisher=[[Haiku Society of America]]}}</ref> According to the society, about 12 syllables in English approximates the duration of 17 Japanese ''on''.<ref name="HSA defs"/>

===''Kigo''===
{{Main|Kigo}}
A haiku traditionally contains a ''[[kigo]]'', a word or phrase that symbolizes or implies the season of the poem and is drawn from a ''[[saijiki]]'', an extensive but prescriptive list of such words. Season words evoke images that are associated with the same time of year, making it a kind of [[Ezra Pound's Three Kinds of Poetry|logopoeia]].<ref name="haiku seasons">{{cite book |last=Higginson |first=William J. |author-link=William J. Higginson |author-mask=2 |title=The Haiku Seasons: Poetry of the Natural World |location=Berkeley |publisher=Kodansha|date=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_q69itupXQsC |page= |isbn=4770016298|pages=94–97; 109–111}}</ref> ''Kigo'' are not always included in non-Japanese haiku or by modern writers of Japanese free-form haiku.<ref name="haiku seasons"/>