Old Pond

Onomatopoeia is a literary device where a word’s sound defines the word itself. It derives from two Greek words, onoma (name) and poiein (to make). As mentioned in the Analysis section, words like bang and swoosh are examples of onomatopoeia, as well as rustle and slap.

In “Old Pond,” Bashō uses onomatopoeia in the last line to signify cause and effect. The last line, “mizu no oto” (Line 3), translates as splash. The frog’s body splashes into the water, and the sudden sound causes Bashō to see the world with new eyes.

The kireji is the cutting word, also known as spoken punctuation, which pivots the haiku toward a shift in subject matter or toward a resolution. In “Old Pond,” ya (at the end of the first line) is the cutting word shifting the poem from contemplation of an old pond to contemplation of a jumping, splashing frog. The kireji operates like the volta in a sonnet.