TANKA

TANKA
- Is a Japanese five-line poem
- Tanka means “short song”
- similar in Haiku because there are certain amounts of
syllables for each line of poem (5-7-5-7-7)
- Utilizes the literary techniques of personification,
metaphor and simile to describe and create the ability for
the reader to visualize the author’s descriptions
- The first three lines of the poem are called “kami-no-ku”
(upper poem) while the last two lines are called “shimo-no-
ku” (Lower poem).
- In 7th century, tanka was so popular that nobles in the
Japanese Imperial court would write tanka poems and
compete
- Tanka poetry was also frequently given to a partner in
courtship at the end of the evening spent together
SOME WRITERS OF TANKA
- Lady Akazone Emon
- Yosana Akiko
- Lady Murasaki Shikibu
- Amy Lowell
- Kenneth Rexroth
- Sam Hamill
- Cod Corman
- Hisashi Nakamura
EXAMPLE
Pretty colored trees
That are orange, red and green
In the Autumn air
An old barn by the water
With a white fence around it.