Poetry Form - The Tanka Surveys:
Analysis of the voice, emotions, person, and punctuation of English-language tanka


The Tanka Verse Form
by J. Zimmerman.

* Tanka: the form and how to write: * History. * Form. * Your Composition. * References.
* Tanka surveys: Voice (I, you, etc) in tanka. Emotions in tanka. Punctuation in tanka.

The Tanka is a Japanese verse form; its name is generally translated as "short poem" or "short song." It is an ancient form of syllabic Japanese poetry, popular in Japan since the 7th century (C.E.) or earlier. It is becoming increasingly popular in North America, Europe, and Australasia.

Voice in Tanka.

The Ink Dark Moon The Ink Dark Moon, translated by Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratani, tanka of Ono No Komachi and Izumi Shikibu of the Heian court.

Voice refers to the person identified. For consistency and clarity in comparing different sources, these data show the number and the percentage of haiku in each set that contain at least one:

Emotions in tanka

Buy Modern Japanese Tanka Modern Japanese Tanka edited by Makoto Ueda.
The 'first collection' of modern Japanese tanka available in English. A delightful and comprehensive presentation that shows the development of the tanka form.

Punctuation in tanka.

Writing and Enjoying Haiku Writing and Enjoying Haiku: A Hands-On Guide (2003)
by Jane Reichhold, whose many skills include a keen sense for the writing and appreciation of haiku. This book includes useful guidelines on writing haiku and related forms.

Other Books on Tanka.

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