Tanka is a Japanese form of short poetry. The form is very similar to haiku with minor variations. Essentially the form is an elongated haiku, maintaining the 5-7-5 structure with an additional lower phrase of two 7 syllable lines. The form looks like this (with each number representing the syllables in a line)
5-7-5-7-7
Rules of Tanka:
- It is a poem of 5 lines
- It follows the syllable pattern 5-7-5-7-7
- It is typically unrhymed
Here is an example of tanka from the prolific Tanka composer Ishikawa Takuboku (and an all time favorite poem of mine):
On the white sand
Of the beach of a small island
In the Eastern Sea.
I, my face streaked with tears,
Am playing with a crab
*Note: The above example does not follow the 5-7-5-7-7 format because it is a translation of the Japanese on which differs from english syllables
Here is an example of tanka by Corey Bryan dedicated to Ishikawa Takuboku
“For Ishikawa Takuboku”
No tanka author
Grips the reins of emotions
Like Ishikawa
I, my face streaked with tears,
blithely read about his crabs.
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