Poets Unite Worldwide
invite you to take part in the Anthology
TANKA POETRY

Only the registered poets will be part of the editorial project, so ask for registration to this Group / Forum :

https://groups.google.com/d/forum/8-japanese-lyric-poetry-tanka

Each registered poet can send to the Forum email 8-japanese-lyric-poetry-tanka@googlegroups.com :

10 Tanka [send all poems in 1 email]

DEADLINE : MAY 15 , 2017
no poems will be accepted after deadline

the new entries have to add a BIOGRAPHY of no more than 200 words, written in 1st person, stating clearly:

First name ; Family name ; Nationality ; Country and Year of birth ; City/Country where currently living

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Important: when you send the poem, be sure to use a new (fresh) email -- do not reply to any previous email --
As 'subject', write: " poetry submission by (your name) ". This way, the Forum will stay in order. Thank you.

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- A Judging Committee will decide if the poems are worthy to be accepted for publication. Only True Tanka will be accepted.

- NO FEES are requested.

- The copyright of the poems will remain in the hands of their Authors, but all participants will accept to make us free to publish the book at no cost and without any other obligation on our part than to publish the poems selected (the acceptance of this point will be attested, by each participant, by simply sending their poems).

Best regards
Fabrizio Frosini

WHAT IS TANKA POETRY?

Meaning "short poem" (or "song"), tanka is the modern day term for 'waka' ("Japanese short poetry"), the traditional form of lyric court poetry which has been composed in Japan for over 1300 years.

Tanka is a non-rhymed Nature / Human Nature poem with a pattern of 5-7-5-7-7 'sounds' (syllables).
Yet, as it happens with haiku, also the tanka form allows the use of a lesser number of syllables.

A tanka can be seen as divided into 2 parts: 'kami-no-ku' ('upper poem', that is the first 3 units of 5-7-5 syllables) and 'shimo-no-ku' ('lower poem', that is the last 2 units of 7-7 syllables).

Tanka usually shows an 'intimate' communication and it employs a 'turn', a pivotal image, which marks the transition from the examination of an image to the examination of the personal response.
This turn (from the upper to the lower poem) often signals a shift or expansion of subject matter.

The upper unit of 3 lines is the origin of the haiku (Masaoka Shiki was the one who reformed tanka and gave the name haiku to the ancient 'hokku').

Tanka is considered a lyric poem, but it shares some of the concerns of haiku (for example, it often -but not always- contains a kigo: word that defines a specific season).

As examples, see the following 6 tanka :

curtains drawn,

the emperor's love
still lies abed —
on crimson peonies,
the morning sun shines

[note: 'peony' is a kigo for Summer]

Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 (1867 – 1902)

~*~

in memory of
the spring now passing
I drew the long
clusters of wisteria
that move like waves

Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規

~*~

Watching the moon
at dawn, solitary
in mid-sky,
I knew myself completely,
no part left out

Izumi Shikibu 和泉式部 (976? – 1033?)

~*~

From darkness
On a shadowed path
I must make my way;
Let it faintly shine, the moon
Upon the mountain’s edge

[note: in both Shikibu's waka, 'moon' is the kigo for Autumn]

Izumi Shikibu 和泉式部

~*~

Even in your sleep
you go on fingering my
hair -- those gentle hands..
are you making love to me
still in the midst of dreams?

[a 5-7-5-7-6 syllabic pattern. No kigo here]

Machi Tawara (a contemporary Japanese poetess - born 1962)

~*~

coming alone
to the sold rice field
on a winter night
I'm burying
my mother's scarlet comb

[a 4-5-5-4-6 syllabic pattern]

Shūji Terayama (1935 - 1983)

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You can clearly see how the tanka 'intimate' communication works:
the transition from the "upper poem" to the "lower poem" is 'smooth' and seamlessly. The lyricism is intense.

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P.S.: there is no a given subject. Each and every poet can choose the subject of her/his own composition.

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8. Japanese Lyric Poetry TANKA

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