Editing Haiku (section)

===''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").