Does anyone know anything about Tanka form of poetry?

Question

If submissions are being sought for an anthology of "modern tanka", does this mean there is flexibility with the syllable structure?

So, as far as evryone is concerned 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 is a standard - there is no variation on this?

Answer 1

Some publications will allow poets to take liberties with the syllable structures of 'Japanese-style' poems. Prrsonally, I think it's ridiculous. They might still be good poems; but as far as I'm concerned, a haiku or tanka's not a haiku or tanka unless it has the proper syllable count.

http://home.earthlink.net/~missias/Acorn.html publishes 'haiku' with unorthodox syllable counts. There may be publications which publish 'irregular tanka', but I've no motivation to find them.

Answer 2

There may be some flexibility in modern tanka poems, however the form does not change. It's like western poetical forms. For example, a sonnet ALWAY has 14 lines, a villanelle always has the same format:
In a traditional Villanelle:


The lines are grouped into five tercets and a concluding quatrain. Thus a Villanelle has 19 lines.

Lines may be of any length.

The Villanelle has two rhymes. The rhyme scheme is aba, with the same end-rhyme for every first and last line of each tercet and the final two lines of the quatrain.

So can you have haiku or tanka that break the format? Yes, but be VERY careful

Answer 3

Tanka is the modern name of a form of Japanese verse that dates back over twelve centuries. Older than haiku, tanka differs from haiku in both its form (31 syllables) and its style of expression. In Japan, tanka has long been considered the most important form of Japanese poetry.....I doubt there would be much if any flexability.

Answer 4

Tanka consists of five units (often treated as separate lines when Romanized or translated) usually with the following mora pattern:

5-7-5 / 7-7.
The 5-7-5 is called the kami-no-ku ("upper phrase"), and the 7-7 is called the shimo-no-ku ("lower phrase").

Tanka is a much older form of Japanese poetry than haiku. In ancient times poems of this form were called hanka ("reverse poem"), since the 5-7-5-7-7 form derived from the conclusion (envoi) of a choka. Sometimes a choka had two envois.

The choka above is followed by an envoi; 銀も金も玉も何せむに勝れる宝子にしかめやも, also written by Okura.

銀も Shirogane mo What are they to me,
金も玉も Kogane mo tama mo Silver, or gold, or jewels?
何せんに Nanisen ni How could they ever
まされる宝 Masareru takara Equal the greater treasure
子にしかめやも Koni shikame yamo That is a child?

Even in the late Asuka period, waka poets such as Kakinomoto Hitomaro made hanka as an independent work. It was suitable to express their private interest in life and expression, in comparison with choka, which was solemn enough to express serious and deep emotion when facing a significant event. The Heian period saw many tanka. In the early Heian Period (at the beginning of the 10th century), choka was seldom written and tanka became the main form of waka. Since then, the generic term waka became almost identical with tanka. The Heian period also saw the invention of a new tanka-based game: One poet recited or created half of a tanka, and the other finished it off. This sequential, collaborative tanka was called renga ("linked poem").

Answer 5

no it means that it has the same syllable structure but refers to modern contect/ subjects.

well that is my belief.

try google it?

how is my picnic hamper going?

Answer 6

No, I don't think so. All I know is that it is 5, 7,5,5,7 for sylables and is traditionally about nature or love...