Japanese Poems

Poetry is such a wonderful way to describe someone or something. The Japanese enjoy describing the world around them, so poetry is a special way to show what they're feeling about something. The Japanese became interested in poetry from the Chinese form many centuries ago. They then changed it through the years into the Japanese type of poetry. There are three basic types of poetry; the tanka, or waka, haiku, and shi. They may have different diversifications, with other names now. The oldest form of waka is from a period during 794 to 1185.

It's like a love song to some girl that the poet hasn't met, as well as praising the land around for its beauty. Another, was written by a monk sometime between 1421 and 1502, and this is the translation: "That man's life is but a dream-is what we now come to know. Its house abandoned, the garden has become a home to butterflies." Haiku is the form most are familiar with. However, it was called hokku until the end of the 1800s.

It has 17 syllables, three lines, with the pattern five syllables on the first and third line and seven on the second. The Japanese write it on one line, while we write it in three. Here is an old haiku: "The first cold shower, even the monkey seems to want, a little coat of straw." Each time something new or different is added to the languages of the countries, we all become richer, for they all add diversity whcih we all benefit from.