The tanka (TAH'N-KAH) is a Japanese short poetic form that has existed since earliest recorded Japanese literature.
Tanka has been considered the most important form and the oldest style of Japanese poetry. It dates back to the 1300s.
This verse consists of five unrhymed lines of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables whose intent is to focus the reader's attention on a single event, or image and the mood that is associated with it.
If that 5-7-5 syllables reminds you of the haiku, that makes sense. The haiku form developed from the tanka. Those first three lines of the tanka are the hokku. Through the writings of poets like Basho in the late 1600s, the new haiku form became an accepted form.
In it its Japanese form, the tanka is considered a lyric poem. Obviously, it shares some of the concerns of haiku verse. For example, it will often contain kigo - words which indicate a season.
Tanka poems often are romantic in nature both in their view of nature and in love.
The short tanka form (from the Japanese for "short poem") consists of five lines of 5,7,5,7 and 7 syllables for a total of 31 syllables.
Since English does not have the same rhythms and syllables as Japanese tankas written in English often do not adhere to the strict form.
Although many English tanka simply use five lines, the first and third being short and the other three being longer, for our prompt we will impose the stricter form.
The tanka contains as its first 3 lines a haiku (5-7-5), and we should note what the two sections attempt to do. The first three lines (the kami no ku or upper poem) usually present an image or thought - much like we think of a haiku. The remaining two lines (the shimo no ku or lower poem) then shifts the focus to a related idea.
Though tankas traditionally are not titled, you may include one.
For our July prompt, we asked for a formal tanka of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables on summer and love.
In 2000, Poets Online offered a tanka prompt on yearning. that you may want to read. Our blog also has a post on the way haiku connects with tanka and a brief explanation of how syllables became part of haiku in English.
Hot summer sun
Shining brightly down on us
Long beautiful days
Endless time to teach and learn
Helping our tender love grow
Uzma Anwar
AN UNKNOWN WORLD
The night surrounds us
One cannot find an escape
Sleep drags you under
Your deepest thoughts surrender
All that's hidden now shines through
Betsy Agosta
SUMMER LOVE
Everyone get ready for summer
Beautiful palms trees and bright sunny beaches
Dive into the swimming pool
Or head to the shore for surfing
Make time for love and enjoy summer
Lakia Montgomery
SHOOTING STARS
A long time ago
We sat in old chairs and scanned
The August night skies.
Shooting stars fell toward earth
Ending far too soon, like you.
Bryan Lane
PINE TREE
The garden at dusk.
Soon the moonflowers will speak
of forgotten storms
that left this delicate pine
hunched like a recent widow.
