Tanka
A tanka is a five-line Japanese poem, traditionally in a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern, that opens with an image of the world and turns in its last lines to a personal feeling.
The streetlights come on one by one along the hill. I count them like days, and wonder which one you walk under, if you walk at all.
That is a tanka written for this page. The first three lines look outward at an image. The last two turn inward to a feeling that the image has stirred up.
The shape
- Lines 1 to 3. An observation, much like a haiku.
- A pivot. The third line often serves two sides at once, finishing the image and starting the feeling.
- Lines 4 and 5. The personal response, longer and more open.
Traditional tanka were love poems and poems of loss, exchanged between court poets. The turn is the same idea as the volta in a sonnet.
Why it matters to a writer or editor
A tanka shows how a concrete image can carry an emotion without naming it. The risk is in lines four and five, where writers are tempted to state the feeling outright. In the example above, "wonder" is as much as the poem says, and the image does the rest.
When editing, check the pivot. If the feeling in the last two lines has no tie to the image in the first three, the poem has been glued together rather than turned. Cut any statement of emotion that the image already implies. This is show, don't tell in five lines.
Read an example
A tanka is a haiku with two more lines. To feel the shorter form first, read a daily haiku on Bossfeed.
Frequently asked questions
How is a tanka different from a haiku?
A tanka adds two seven-syllable lines to the haiku shape, and that room is used for a turn toward emotion. Haiku usually stays with the image alone.
Where does the tanka come from?
It is the oldest Japanese poetic form still in use, with a history of over thirteen hundred years. Haiku grew out of its opening three lines.
Does a tanka have to be 5-7-5-7-7 in English?
Not strictly. As with haiku, English poets treat the count as a guide and often write a shorter, looser five-line poem.