[stylist] Information about Tanka and its writing

Wed Jun 8 20:08:56 UTC 2011

Donna,
To be honest I am not sure what 'kana' is... I'll look  it up to find out 
as I had never heard of it before.. I don't remember those  instructions 
including that before .. or has my mind finally gone and lost  it...LOL  
The thing about haiku and tanka is that they have  modernized... also you 
could be writing what is called a senryu.. that's more  about emotions than 
nature.. I would love to read some!  I have written  quite a few haibun too.. 
different animal but a lot of fun.. several have to do  with blindness.. I 
can share them off list or on list if you'd  like.

In a message dated 6/8/2011 2:53:59 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
penatwork at epix.net writes:

Hi  Myrna,
You remembered! Guess Grandma isn't as frazzled by youthful  exuberance as
she thought! 

This is intriguing, but what, pray tell,  is "kana?"

I'm going to post a couple haiku I just wrote, but my guess  in reading this
is that they fall short of adhering to the rules. I didn't  realize that
juxtaposition was necessary. For me, they're a little slice of  life and
always about nature. I do, of course, use the 5,7,5 syllables in  three 
lines
construction, and I don't think I use metaphor or simile, but  I'll have to
re read with that in mind.

I'm going to keep the Tanga  form in mind. I've often thought I had 
something
else to say after the 17  syllables. I wrote a song a couple of years ago in
which the verses and  bridge were all Haiku. Guess that's another kettle of
fish  entirely.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From:  stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
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Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2011 2:42 PM
To:  stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] Information about Tanka and its  writing

As promised, Donna, here is the information on Tanka   writing.  It is a 
very traditional form .... however, it has  been  modernized and some
elements 
have been changed or at least  made not so strict  once the English began 
writing them.  As  this article says it is because of  the difference in 
syllabication  between the Japanese and English  languages.  This 
information
is  from 
ShadowPoetry.com.  It is a source  I've have used  extensively over the 
years.  I will share more Tanka and as  you  will see even I strayed from 
the

traditional syllable count.  As I  side  note, my tanka collaborator and I 
developed a form which we  call the Haibun's  cousin, the Tankabun. It
includes 
one tanka and  a prose edition.  If you  are interested in it do let me  
know.

I can also share an example of that  form too.  
For  those who are not familiar with Haibuns they are  Haiku and prose  
combined in one piece.  Here is the article on   Tanka...

Definition of Tanka

An unrhymed Japanese  poem  consisting of five lines of 5/7/5/7/7 (5 kana 
in 
the first line, 7 kana  in  the second line, 5 kana in the third line, 7 
kana in the fourth  line, and 7 kana  in the fifth line) totaling 31 kana. 

General  thoughts on  Tanka

Tanka is generally written in two parts. The  first three lines  is one 
part, and the last two lines is the second  part.

Tanka in English  is relatively new, so there are not as  many guidelines 
as 
with haiku and senryu.  You may include kigo  (season words), but it is not 
necessary.

One  exercise for  beginners is to write a haiku and add two more lines.  

However,  tanka is not really a longer haiku, and should not be thought  of 
as  such. While tanka does use many of the same elements such as   
juxtaposition, concrete imagery, and is usually centered around  nature,
tanka is  less 
constrictive.

You may use metaphor,  simile, and many of the other  devices generally not 
used in haiku or  senryu. You may show a more personal and  emotional  
viewpoint.

If tanka were seen in a book that contains only   Japanese poetic forms, 
they would be easily recognizable. However, if the  same  poems were seen in
a 
freestyle poetry book, they may be  confused with any other  five line poem.

English tanka has not  totally found its voice.  

Three ways to write tanka

There  are three basic ways to  write tanka. 

1) Write 5 lines of  5/7/5/7/7. Just replace one syllable  for one kana. 
Most English  speaking writers do not do this, as there are too  many vast  
differences between the Japanese and English language.

You  are  certainly free to do this, however, your tanka will be about  
one-third longer  than the Japanese tanka. There are some Japanese  who 
think
this 
is the only real  way to write tanka, but there are  others who feel that 
making English writers  adhere to the form  serves no purpose.

2) Write 5 lines of 31 syllables or  LESS,  following the 
short/long/short/long/long form. This way, your tanka  will  achieve the 
same
basic effect as 
the Japanese  tanka.

3) Write 5 lines of  31 syllables or LESS, letting the poem  dictate the 
line length. You are free to  experiment more with this  last option.

Everyone who writes tanka must  make their own  personal decision on which 
form they want to use. Some experiment   with all three forms and find 
their 
own paths.   
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