Haiku poems and Tanka - Collection 1

 

Haiku poems

About:

Haiku are unrhymed poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively. The haiku first emerged in Japanese Literature during the 17th century, as a terse reaction to elaborate poetic traditions.

In Japanese, haiku are traditionally printed as a single line, while haiku in English often appear as three lines.

For example, the Haiku “The Old Pond” by Matsuo Bashō has

An old silent pond (5 syllable)

A frog jumps into the pond (7 syllable)

Splash! Silence again. (5 syllable)

English Haiku poems –

 1.

Gazing at dark sky

to floating clouds should I speak

come down let us meet

 2.

Jumping from peach tree

wanting to be that monkey

jolly and no qualms

 3.

In serene beauty

No borders to show limit

Beholden to sea

4. 

Crazy tricky time

Focused on sweet seasons

While her hair turned white

Tanka

About:

 The Tanka is a thirty-one-syllable poem, traditionally written in a single unbroken line. A form of waka, Japanese song or verse, Tanka translates as "short song," and is better known in its five-line, 5/7/5/7/7 syllable count form.

English Tanka poetry –

1. The Mountain Glory

Cotton candy sky

the blissful mountain glory

and wind’s feathered smile

when hair danced with a twist

standing here I breathe sweet mist

 2.The Baffling Beauty 

Standing over bridge

eyes towards the horizon

here waiting since dawn

See! Sun starts shining on me

just praise the baffling beauty

- Written by Prakshali Jain

Photo by David Edelstein on Unsplash