An old Polaroid
photograph turning yellow;
fingerprints bring death.
Those times long past are fading,
melting away with longing
A Tanka is a Japanese poem with 31 syllables. Since English and Japanese are such different languages, the English representation of a Tanka is quite a bit different from a “real” Tanka. The English version typically has a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7 with a concrete “Haiku” (the first three lines) and an abstract couplet.
Not quite. The English version is typically a set of five phrases on five lines, varying in length. It is not a ‘haiku+2′ — tanka is a thousand years older than haiku and encompasses far more. There is no obligation to have a break at the end of line 3, the break could be anywhere. Likewise, there can be more than one break or no break at all.
Much can be learned about tanka by visiting TankaCentral.com and following the links to the various journals and websites. Several of them can be read free online.
My referring to the first part as a “Haiku” was in reference to the syllabic form as opposed to it being a haiku (though Japanese focuses on moras), which is why I had the quotes, but perhaps that wasn’t clear.
You’re right about Tanka being older; I was not aware that it was a thousand-year difference though. Haiku is from 1400-ish, if I remember correctly, so are Tanka from 400? I have not heard much of their age other than them being very old.
As far as line breaks, I’m not sure there’s any obligation at all. Many Japanese poems are written vertically, so our breaks are more to mirror the parts of the poem. In this case, the breaks are syllabic in origin and the blank line separates the kami-no-ku and shimo-no-ku (sp?).
Thanks for stopping by and for the suggestion about Tanka Central, I’ll check it out.
Ian,
I like this poem, whether it is a haiku plus two lines, a tanka, or a whatever.
There is no such thing as “translating” poems or poetic forms from one language to another. We can only do something that has the same spirit and a similar structure and which inspires a like response.
Robert