Learning to Write Poetry: The Tanka

Suggested Steps to Writing Your Own Tanka Poem

What is a Tanka?

No, I’m not talking about writing poetry about a toy (Tonka) truck! The Tanka poem originated in Japan and is known as a short poem or “short song.” When written in English, a Tanka is five lines and adheres to a strict number of syllables — five in the first line, seven in the second, five for the third, and then seven for each of the last two lines. There is no restriction on rhyme or meter.

Many people who write this form of poetry stop there, with no more restrictions except the number of syllables, but if you want to write a traditional Tanka, there is more to it:

The tanka is sometimes separated by the three “upper lines” (kami no ku) and the two “lower ones” (shimo no ku). The upper unit is the origin of the haiku. The brevity of the poem and the turn from the upper to the lower lines, which often signals a shift or expansion of subject matter, is one of the reasons the tanka has been compared to the sonnet. There is a range of words, or engo (verbal associations), that traditionally associate or bridge the sections. — poets.org

In other research, Tankas are shown to use themes similar to Haikus — season, nature, love — particularly the changing of the seasons. It also incorporates personification, metaphors or similes.

Writing Your Own Tanka

What do you feel inspired to write? If you can’t think of anything, you can do something as simple as looking out your window. What do you see? In my part of the U.S., it is Autumn right now, so I will start out writing about the changing leaves.

Colors are changing

Very simple start and it’s already five syllables. What else?

Red, Yellow, and Orange, trees losing their leaves, getting colder… Since I started with colors changing, I’ll continue to write about colors.

Red, yellow and orange

That’s only six syllables, so I’ll have to add one. There are many synonyms for red — scarlet, crimson, maroon, auburn — so that’s an easy one. I think auburn is a pretty word, so I’d like to use that. Plus, this word is usually referring to the color of a person’s hair. I want to use this personification later. Winter is coming, so let’s go with another color — silver or white, most likely. This is the third line, so remember Five syllables.

Soon it’s snowy white

Now, if I want to follow the traditional form, I need to take a turn. I can go from colors to something different. The days are shorter as the weather gets cold, so I’ll go with the theme of time changing and make it seven syllables.

Winter comes and days are short

Now, for the ending. I think I’ll go back to the colors, but also tie it in with the concept of time, from the last line. Again, seven syllables.

Golden sun is setting soon.

I’m also going to change the second line to focus on one color: Auburn.

Auburn now, but then it’s gone.

So now I have a completed poem:

Colors are changing Auburn now, but then it’s gone Soon it’s snowy white Winter comes and days are short Golden sun is setting soon

Did you notice the personification in this poem? When a person with red hair gets older, the color will sometimes change to a darker red, which is why I chose the word auburn earlier. Then, of course, a person ages and their hair turns white. The last two lines are referring to the person approaching the end of their life. So, although this is a poem about the season changing from Autumn to Winter, it is also a metaphor for aging and death.

I hope this inspires you to try your hand at this unique form of poetry and gives you the confidence that you can do it.

Brandon Ellrich, American Writer

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