How to write a tanka poem

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit Tanka (THAN-KAH) were an important part of Japanese poetry even before the first written records were inscribed as waka in ca 700 C.E, and are still written and published in hundreds of groups dedicated to the study and use of the form. In the last twenty years more persons outside of Japan are discovering the marvels of tanka and trying their hand at this short form which is the grandmother of haiku.

Guidelines
In Japanese the tanka, though written in one or two lines, is actually made up of five phrases that contain either five or seven sound units for a total of 31. Since these sound units are much shorter than our English syllables, and to more closely approximate the look and sound of a Japanese tanka, we give each phrase one line and to keep the shape, make our lines, short, long, short, long, long. You may already recognize that beginning of a tanka looks just like a haiku and the two forms are related in many ways. However, the additional two long lines at the end allow for the addition of more subjective or personal observations or feelings. The tanka is much more lyrical and allows the expression of opinion, feelings, and thoughts which the much shorter haiku do not. In Japanese the tanka is divided also into the upper section (the haiku-like beginning) and the lower section (the two long lines). The art and crafting of tanka comes from the relationship and how it is expressed between these two sections. Often the middle line acts as a pivot – think of a garden gate that swings both ways – so the thought in the upper section can change to another thought in the lower section. This change must show a new voice, place, time, or mood. An example would be this poem from Akiko Yosano, Japan’s greatest tanka poet. after my bath I dress myself smiling in the long mirror a portrait of yesterday one cannot deny You see you can read the first three lines and get one idea. If you read the middle line again and add the last two lines you will see that she has made a switch in time and added an opinion to give you a very different poem. This tension between the upper and lower parts of the tanka is what gives it an energy that teases and delights and adds to the difficulty of making a poem. As you can imagine, a poem form used for over 1,500 years has many guidelines, rules, and changes which have come and gone over the centuries. If you are interested in the form, there is much to study and learn about it.

Steps
To get yourself started let asasas assume you already know how to write a haiku. If so, you may already have the first three lines done! Let us say your haiku is: going higher the mountain road disappears into a cloud  Now taking the third line, think of how to change the scene from the cloud in the mountains to somewhere else; so the road does something else or the cloud becomes something new. I made the change to: I think of you as blossoms </li>scattered too soon </li>In the upper section as author I am showing you a scene, but in the lower section I have changed the poem to giving you my thoughts. I have changed the cloud in the sky to a cloud of cherry blossoms and the road is now the abstract way of decay. As the road disappears into a cloud, so has the person who has died gone from view. The poem has gone from a picture of mountain roads to an expression of loss for which there is no exact word. </li>By using these techniques you can get a many-layered poem that offers the reader endless deliberation and delight. </li></ol>

Tips
<ul>The key to writing any good poem is to be creative. Use imagery and words that convey emotion. Do not be afraid to whip out the thesaurus. </li>Practice; </li></ul>

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