TANKA is a Japanese poetic form that originated in the Japanese Imperial Court 1,200 years ago, it can embrace all of the human experience in its brief space with emotions of love, pity, suffering, loneliness, or death.

Tanka is succinct and may not exceed 31 syllables (5/7/5/7/7) BUT IT CAN BE LESS THAN 31 in a short/long/short/long/long format because Japanese and English syllables are not the same. Personification, metaphor, simile are permitted in Tanka. Capitalization and punctuation should only be used when necessary. No end rhymes. Alliteration should be avoided or used sparingly. for rules click here

The definition of Contemporary English tanka is that it is five phrases on five lines. It is essential that the five phrases be cohesive, not just a list. The five lines must be integrated into a unified poem. The fifth line should be a strong line; the strongest. --source is a pdf file: 'Tanka Teachers Guide' by Denis Garrison

Painting by Kenaga Yasunari

Thank you very much for reading my tanka.

Gypsy

You need to login or register to write reviews. It's quick! We only ask four questions to new members.