Tanka Writing Room

Teiko Tanka Cabin (- threads, 15 posts)
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Tanka Writing Room

General Thread

Welcome honourable guests to the Tanka Writing Room. *bows*
The paper, ink and brushes are on the desks. Please have a seat on the tatami mat and begin writing when you are ready.

In Japan, it is customary to meditate and breathe deeply in order to still the mind and allow the inspiration to flow.
The tanka is similar to haiku in that it focuses on nature and seasons, but it is somewhat longer.
The tanka also expresses a wide range of emotions, including sorrow from heartbreak, longing and grief.
In Japan's Heian period (794-1185 A.D.), tanka poems were composed for special occasion, especially those of a romantic nature. Women and men composed tanka and sent them to their lovers and those they desired.
Each line or sound group of a tanka may express a separate image or idea, with all five lines merging to create a whole.
The tanka has five units and and 31 syllables and is most commonly written in the following pattern:

5-7-5 / 7-7
5-7-5 is the kami-no-ku (upper phrase).
7-7 is the shimo-no-ku (lower phrase).
For more information visit Tanka.
You may share your tanka with us by posting it on the thread below.
You may also wish to honour of your ancestors and your dear departed loved ones by sending your poem downstream in on one of the paper boats Tao Shang has provided on his Black Dragon Riverboat.

The tanka below was written by Murasaki Shikibu's daughter, Daini no Sanmi, in the 11th century A.D., and was included in Hyakunin isshu (One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets), an anthology of a hundred tanka (31-syllable poems) compiled by Fujiwara no Teika in 1235. C.E.

Daini no Sanmi, Lady Kataiko
Arimayama
Ina no sasawara
Kaze fukeba
Ide soyo hito o
Wasure ya wa suru
As Mount Arima
Sends its rustling winds across
Ina's bamboo plains
I will be just as steadfast
And never will forget you.

A special thanks to to Feiyan Zhou for encouraging me to particpate in the Hungry Ghost Festival and to Jia Li Shen Chi for permission to copy her coding. *bows*