More on Haiku: Kireji or "Cutting Words"
In reading and writing haiku, there are many facets to consider, so many in fact that Jane Reichhold in her article "Fragment and Phrase Theory", made the astute comment:
"The fact that the smallest literary form - haiku - has the most rules never ceases to amaze and astound."
Earlier articles posted here at Literotica discussed many of these rules and facets, however, one of the most important to consider is the kireji or "cutting word". Reichhold thought it so important that she discusses it first in her article:
"First and foremost, and certainly the guideline which I have consciously or unconsciously followed the longest, is the one that a haiku must be divided into two parts. This is the positive side of the rule that haiku should not be a run-on sentence. There needs to be a syntactical break dividing the ku into two parts. From the Japanese language examples this meant that one line (5 onji) was separated from the rest by either grammar or punctuation (in the Japanese an accepted sound-word - kireji - was as if we said or wrote out "dash" or "comma")."
It is through this break that the true beauty of haiku is realized. With the break, or "cut" the reader is forced, through imagination, to relate or reconcile the two parts of the haiku. With effective juxtaposition, the haiku artist can create a significant surprise or provide insight the reader had either not considered before, or had instinctively known all along, but missed in the observation. In fact, some experts consider the true strength of haiku relies upon this cut and juxtaposition:
"Though it can be presented on the page in three lines, a haiku structurally consists of two parts with a pause in between. Its power as poetry derives from the juxtaposition of the two images and the sense of surprise or revelation that the second image produces."
(1. pg 3)
In Japanese haiku the cut is created through the use of an actual word, a kireji. Harold G. Henderson detailed a number of kireji in his book
An Introduction to Haiku
including, for example:
ka
which is merely a verbal question mark and
yo
a verbal exclamation mark. Obviously a translation of these words will not yield any equivalent English words. Concurrently, in his article titled "The Disjunctive Dragonfly", Richard Gilbert states:
"Direct imitation of kireji is not linguistically possible for English haiku; however, an application of analogues miming the function of the original is a possibility."
In other words, often in English haiku, actual punctuation is used to create the cut. This is accomplished using a number of different punctuations including:
Ellipsis:
hot afternoon...
only the slap slap
of a jump rope
Anita Virgil (2. pg 241)
Dash:
lone red-winged blackbird
riding a reed in high tide—
billowing clouds
Nicholas Virgilio (2. pg 256)
Semicolon:
I stop to listen;
the cricket
has done the same.
Arizona Zipper (2. pg 327)
Commas and periods are also used as well as simply not using any punctuation and letting the language determine where a natural break would occur:
unpainted porch
fog comes
to a closed door
Jane Reichhold (2. pg 159)
In the above haiku, Reichhold actually helps you with finding the break by indenting the second and third lines, creating the cut between the unpainted porch and the fog.
In reviewing the above haiku, notice how the cut in each one highlights a juxtaposition of two distinct images or concepts. With each one, this juxtaposition is followed with an enlightening surprise or aha! Often you have heard crickets, only to get close and then experience a sudden silence. While you had experienced that before, the haiku offers a wonderful reminder of that experience as you are taken into a field or forest to experience the event through the haiku. Consider each of the above poems and search for the cut and the following enlightenment. This is the pure essence of haiku.
