Poetry Made Easy (Part One)- What Kinds of Short Poetry Forms Are There?
And how do you start writing them?
Part 1: Haikus and Tankas.
Imagine you were new to poetry and I just told you that the best way to learn a new artform is to challenge yourself, and that you should start by writing a sonnet. Your reaction might be one of two things:
1: Look up what a sonnet is and how to write one, and
2: Realize I was insane for giving you that advice and that you want to start with something way less intimidating.
Although no one’s telling beginner poets to write full blown ballads and sonnets right off the bat, many people do want to start with something a little easier to digest and work their way up. Alternatively, other people may be interested in poetry but would prefer to keep their pieces shorter or simpler in style. In other words, a personal preference.
If either of these reasons rings true for you, then you’ve come to the right place. In the following blog posts, I’ll be going over all kinds of short poetry forms for you to try your hand at, starting with two forms that I believe are among the quickest to understand, both of which stem from Japanese origin.
The Haiku
So what kinds of short forms of poetry are there, and how do you write them? To begin, let's start with one of the most common forms.
As one of the most popular forms of poetry, you’ve probably already heard of the ‘haiku’ before and luckily for me, they’re just as straightforward to explain as they are to grasp. A haiku is a 3 line poem that follows a set syllable count. The first line has 5 syllables, the second one has 7 and the last one has 5 syllables (a 5-7-5 syllable pattern). Taking its simplicity into account, many poets looking for short and sweet forms start with haikus.
Usually, the main thing to worry about when it comes to haikus is often the syllable count, but it becomes less daunting with practice. Other advice to consider when writing haikus are a bit broader and can be applied to other forms as well. For example, Domie Williamson advises poets to choose a subject/theme they’re interested in writing about and to focus on crafting a clear image by focusing on sensory details (ie sight, sound). This advice works great for haikus especially, considering their brief and precise nature.
As for any other ‘rules’ to consider when writing haikus, there usually isn’t any rhyme scheme you need to consider although you can still choose to make it rhyme if you want. Traditionally, haikus contain references to seasons and or nature, however this requirement is less strict nowadays, especially in modern English haikus. Like many forms of poetry, haiku’s can be about whatever the writer chooses.
Examples:
To get a better picture of the haiku, let’s take a few examples into consideration. Starting with an example written by myself. Here’s a haiku that contains references to nature:
Misty clouds enshroud (5)
Dusting the mountains in chalk (7)
A ghostly sunrise (5)
As you can see, this haiku follows the proper 5-7-5 format.
The Tanka
Moving onto a form of poetry that’s a little less known compared to haikus but is still considered a major form in Japanese literature, tankas are another great short form of poetry to learn. The great news is, if you know how to write a haiku then you already know the first step to writing a tanka, considering the fact that a tanka can be thought of as a haiku with two extra lines.
A tanka is a 5 line poem and like haikus, they also follow a strict syllable pattern. The pattern tankas’ follow is the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern. In short, the first three lines follow the same format as a haiku, and then the next step is to add two more lines with 7 syllables each. As well, the guidelines and ‘rules’ to writing a tanka seem to be similar in that it can be about whatever image the writer wants it to be about,
Example:
For Satori by Philip Appleman
In the spring of joy, (5)
when even the mud chuckles, (7)
my soul runs rabid, (5)
snaps at its own bleeding heels, (7)
and barks: “What is happiness?” (7)
From the example shown, you can clearly see how it adheres to the syllable structure and as a bonus, also includes references to seasons and nature. Once again, many of the examples shown so far have references to nature, it isn't always a requirement. Feel free to write about whatever you like! There's no write or wrong topic when it comes to poetry, after all.
Try For Yourself.
Now that you’ve gotten a basic understanding of how to write both of these short poetry forms, it’s time to give them a try for yourself. Taking everything into consideration, which form speaks to you the most? What do you want to write about? Is there a specific image you want to create? If you’re thinking about any of these questions, then try following the examples provided here and write your own poem! And if you found this blog helpful, share so that more people interested in short forms of poetry can read through this.
Cheers!
Image sources:
1: Personal example
2: (Tanka by Miheala Pirjol from Poetry Hunter) https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lucidity-of-love-tanka/