iris nod wind's rhythm
praise summer's diurnal heat-
cicadas scream
~~~~~~~~
fireflies beckon
sparklers in the darkest night
twinkling as beacons
lovers lust in the moonlight
shimmering flitting glow worm
~~~~~~~~
I'm still not convinced that Japanese forms, such as tanka, can be translated into English. Tanka, older than haiku, are written across the page in Japanese. Cultured folks, during Japan's Heian period (794-1185 A.D.), would mark an occasion with the grace and beauty of their tanka.
Robert Lee Brewer says,
"If a haiku is usually (mistakenly) thought of as a 3-line, 5-7-5 syllable poem, then the tanka would be a 5-line, 5-7-5-7-7 syllable poem."
A tanka, then, is a 5-line poem with 3 short lines (lines 2, 4, 5) and 2 very short lines (lines 1 and 3).
Tanka is conversational, unlike haiku, and it uses of poetic devices (metaphor and 
personification) not allowed in haiku. Each line is distinct, and the images do not wrap into the next line. They are concise and musical.
I am amazed at the website that purport to feature haiku, but some do not make the grade. Watch out for imitations.
For more info on tanka:
| Websites: |
Visit: Summer Haiku for how-to-join.
2 comments:
I agree that tanka and haiku don't perfectly translate into English -too many people who write 'haiku' in English think 5-7-5 is all that matters. But then even litereary haiku writers in English are rarely aware of current developments in the form in Japanese. True haiku writing takes a lifetime to master, which is part of what makes them so interesting!
It's true, crafty,
"we don't know what we don't know"
and the more one learns...
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