Hello, I am Yoshi from NILS Japanese language school. We introduced haiku 俳句 early this week. Today, we will talk about other forms of short poems.
Tanka 短歌 is a 31-syllable poem consisting of five lines in the pattern 5-7-5-7-7. The first 5-7-5 is called kami-no-ku 上の句 or upper poem, the ramaining 7-7 the shimo-no-ku 下の句 or lower poem. Since tanka has been the dominant form of Japanese poetry since the 7th century, the word tanka is synonymous with waka 和歌 or Japanese poetry. The major themes of tanka deal with the beauty of nature, life and feelings. In olden days, composing and exchanging poems was the most popular intellectual pastime. The famous tanka poets include Kakinomoto no Hitomaro 柿本人麻呂, Saito Mokichi 齋藤茂吉 and Ishikawa Takuboku 石川啄木.

Senryu 川柳 is a form of short poem. Like haiku 俳句, it has 17 syallables in three lines in a 5-7-5 pattern. Haiku always need to include a seasonal word, but senryu don’t have to. While haiku deal with nature, senryu deal with human matters. As a result, they tend to reflect the social conditions of the times. The viewpoint in senryu is usually witty, satiric and humorous.

August 3rd News, from NILS Japanese language school.