Stoic Haiku VS Emotional Tanka
Romance with Tanka Poetry
Since I began writing poems in English, I have also been enjoying reading other people’s poems. I am happy to know that a lot of English poets love Haiku poetry which originated in Japanese culture.
Haiku poetry is quite familiar to me because we have to learn it at school. I still remember a few beautiful pieces written by ancient Japanese poets which I memorised in Japanese classes.
Haiku poetry is a syllable-limited poetry style which was born in Japan. Besides Haiku there is another great traditional Japanese poetry style called ‘Tanka.’
In Japan, children learn both of these styles. As I read Haiku in English, I started wondering why people only enjoy Haiku, even though Tanka poetry has a longer history than Haiku in Japanese literature.
I recently wrote about the difference between Haiku and Tanka.
There is a difference of structure between them, but apart from that, more poets write about love or other strong emotions in Tanka rather than Haiku. Poets love to talk about love. I think they should enjoy writing Tanka poems as well as Haiku.
A Tanka poem has 31 syllables, counted by ‘moras’ in Japanese Tanka, while Haiku only has 17. Tanka poetry can contain more words and emotions than Haiku. That’s why Japanese poets have found it easy to pour strong feelings into their Tanka poems, such as love, happiness, sadness, loneliness, or nostalgia.
Compared with Tanka, Haiku poetry is a more stoic world. Some Japanese poets say that you shouldn’t put your intense emotions in your Haiku poems. Although not all of Haiku poets agree with that and it is true that writing Haiku poems is more difficult when you want to express strong feelings. Haiku poetry is not suitable for emotional writing.
Writing Haiku is exciting. We can only use limited syllables and it makes me feel as if I am doing puzzles with English words. When you write a Haiku poem, you can be a Japanese Zen-ish minimalist.
I enjoy writing Tanka poems too, especially when I want to talk about love or when I am in an emotional mode.
Haiku is stoic and crisp. It is impressive when you can create a good one. However, when you feel wordier you can go with Tanka poetry which allows you to use more words to enrich your expression.
I believe that Tanka poetry in English should be more flourishing. I am also trying to write more Tanka poems in English and not only Haiku.
If you are interested in my poems, please visit my publication ‘Etude of Creativity,’ the category ‘Haiku 100.’
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