What is Tanka?
Tanka is the name of an ancient form of Japanese poetry. Tanka are 31-syllable poems that have been the most popular form of poetry in Japan for at least 1300 years. As a form of poetry, tanka is older than haiku, and tanka poems evoke a moment or mark an occasion with concision and musicality. During Japan's Heian period (794-1185 A.D.) it was considered essential for a woman or man of culture to be able to both compose beautiful poetry and to choose the most aesthetically pleasing and appropriate paper, ink, and symbolic attachment---such as a branch, a flower---to go with it. Tanka were often composed as a kind of finale to every sort of occasion; no experience was quite complete until a tanka had been written about it. Tanka is another form of Japanese poetry that depends on the number of lines and syllables instead of rhyme. This is the pattern: line 1 = 5 syllables line 2 = 7 syllables line 3 = 5 syllables line 4 = 7 syllables line 5 = 7 syllables
Sample One no resemblance these two caterpillars chewing the same hedge only by intercession will they ever meet Sample Two Blossoms floating down Through the tangled canopy Treetops wave unseen; Jade green rice bowls, his and hers On the petal tatami Sample Three Turning away from a mountain of color the old woman finds one leaf in her shadow Sample Four Walking out in snow and back in snow to farthest lights showing each flake even in the storm Sample Five The rain on the window and in the garden through the maple's bareness flowering the winter jasmine Your tanka must be TYPED. It must be mounted on construction paper OR printed on decorative paper. It should have an image of nature relevant to the topic either in the print of the special paper, as a graphic, or cut out of construction paper…or, be creative. Ideas...flower, bonsai, leaves, cherry blossom... Remember, in Japan, presentation is everything. Take great pride in your work. This assignment is due Friday, October 6. Study the tanka samples above. Only one is correct! Count the syllables to find out which one!
YOUR ASSIGNMENT: Create a tanka that expresses the beauty Japanese appreciate in their daily lives. Think of their appreciation of nature, their gardens, or their tea ceremonies.