All types of Japanese poetry with examples. Traditional genres of Japanese poetry

What are the names of Japanese poems and what meaning do they carry?

Japanese love poems have long been appreciated by poetry fans. Some will say that Russian or French poetry sounds much more beautiful, but nothing penetrates deeply into the soul like the reverent and romantic works of Japan. Many people still don’t know what Japanese poems are called and what meaning they carry?

A little history about Japanese poetry

Japanese poetry comes in varieties such as tanka or haiku. In these works, the Japanese express love as the highest feeling that life brings with it. The thangka is shaped like a pentaverse and appeared around the eighth century. Haiku - tercets, appeared only eight centuries later.

It would seem that eight hundred years separate poetry from the eighth to the sixteenth centuries, but such a large amount of time did not become an obstacle for the Japanese to create masterpieces. Pentaverse today has supplanted the previously popular free verse and is dominant in the 21st century.

Why did Japanese poetry attract so much attention?

Japanese lyrical poetry does not accept open expression of feelings; in it, feelings are compared to living nature. Poems have a subtle meaning only because they intersect the beauty of living nature and human feelings.

Japanese poets have a unique style of writing their works. For example, in Russia, poems are very popular where the author glorifies the beauty of a woman; in Japanese poetry, a beloved woman is compared to golden spring leaves, to butterflies that gently flutter from flower to flower. If, while reading Japanese literature, you notice admiration for sakura, carnations or any other flower, then you should know that in this way the author glorifies female beauty. Japanese lyricists can also compare a young maiden to a pearl, jasper or other precious stones.

You will never see women's names in Japanese lyrics. This rule is" came to the land of the rising sun from ancient times, if a girl told a young man what her name was, then she was obliged to tie the knot with him.

Japanese short poems never reveal their souls or secrets. After reading them, one gets the impression of understatement. Each reader feels certain emotions regarding the work he reads.

Romantic images that are most often used in poetry:

• dreams;
• moonlight of the night;
• fog, smog, haze;
• twilight;
• sun or moon.

What is the difference between tanka poetry and haiku poetry?

Japanese tanka poetry differs from haiku only in the size of the lines. Haiku is in the form of three lines, and tanka is in five lines. Today it is difficult to list all the honored authors, but we can highlight:

• Basho,
• Roana,
• Issa.

Amazing Japanese Poetry

The Japanese not only have a special attitude towards word form, towards women, but also towards nature. Russians have only four seasons, like most of the planet's inhabitants, in principle, while the Japanese have six seasons a year.

Fifth- rain season tsuyu, which lasts six weeks. Season six– autumn transparency or Japanese clarity, which is an analogue of Indian summer.

It is difficult to indicate with two names what Japanese poems are called. Tanku and haiku are just names that mean nothing to half of the readers, but after reading a few lines, the reader understands the deep meaning they carry.

Japanese poetry does not contain complex expressions or thoughts, but at the same time it cannot be called too simple. A small verse contains a whole world of feelings and emotions that the author is trying to convey to the reader. At first glance, it may seem that anyone can create a tanka or haiku, but once you try it in practice, it will actually be difficult for you.

Video: Japanese haiku poems SEASONS

Read also

17 Apr 2014

When you think of traditional Japanese clothing, what immediately comes to mind are bright kimonos with...

April 29, 2014

“Mono no aware. The Charm of Things" is an amazing exhibition of Japanese art in the Hermitage, ...

...Without any effort she moves heaven and earth

Captivates even gods and demons invisible to our eyes

Refines the union of men and women

Softens the heart of stern warriors... This is the song.

Ki no Tsurayuki. From the preface to the collection “Kokinshu”

Poetry from the Heart of Japan

Probably, among all nations, songs and poems are born from one “source,” but only among the Japanese, a song does not necessarily imply music. “Song is not equal to poetry, but it is neither higher nor lower than it.” This is how the Japanese usually express themselves in multiple meanings.

Types of Japanese poetry:

• Tanka is a short lyrical song.
• Sadoka - six-verse.
• Renga is a chain of word images that disintegrates towards the end.
• Haiku is an independent genre that is still popular today.
• Uta is a five-line poem that serves as an appendix to Nagauta.
• Nagauta is a very long ballad.
• Haiku is traditional poetry of Japan.
• Cinquain - 5 unrhymed lines.
• Kyoka is a satirical genre of poetry (crazy poems).
• Rakushu - satirical poetry of the 13th-14th centuries.

The first evidence of poetry

One of the first evidence of the monumentality of poetry, which is now considered a “monument” of the poetic principle, is the anthology “Manyoshu”. The translation of this name is also ambiguous: “Collection of songs over many centuries” or “Collection of myriads of leaves.” This anthology dates back to the 8th century and is divided into 20 parts, which together contain 4,500 poems. This truly unique collection is made up of works spanning 4 centuries!

Manyoshu contains all types and forms of Japanese poetry. The most interesting, oddly enough, is social poetry. In itself, it was a rare occurrence in those days. And, of course, there are a lot of anonymous poems in this anthology. This is very significant because when similar anthologies were made in later times, poems whose authorship is unknown were not included.

Second testimony and canons

The second evidence of the development of poetry was the collection “Kokinwakashu” of 26 scrolls and 1111 poems. In addition to the division into lyrical and landscape, there are presented: poetic complaints, congratulations, travel poems, acrostics.

This anthology was collected by imperial decree, who considered it his duty to take care of the heritage of poets of his own and other centuries. Interestingly, the preface in Chinese was written by Ki no Yoshimochi, a poet and great poetry connoisseur, whom even recognized. So, this collection is the most successful and thorough attempt to tell the reader about the history of poetry in Japan. It was Kokinwakashu who established the rules for tank construction and made this form canonical.

The birth and development of rank

Since the 12th century, renga has become popular in Japan - a poetic chain that breaks up into links towards the end. This form originated from tanrenga (short form of renga), which were composed by two different poets - the first three lines of 7 syllables were written by one poet, the last two lines by another. And then the form developed into terenga and kusari renga, which were already written by several poets.

In the Kamakura era, renga acquired its own canons, and its form was transformed. Now it was supposed to have a hundred lines, and such directions as soulless renga mushin and soulful renga ushin appeared.

The first is not lack of spirituality in the literal sense, but that form of verse that is filled with humor, sometimes obscene. Soulful ones are an elegant form of expressing serious concepts.

Towards the end of the era, Kamakura renga, as the most popular form, acquired exceptional masters. It was at that time that poets appeared who devoted their lives exclusively to this word form. Among the many masters was Nijo Yoshimoto, who was a student of the famous Gusai. Together they compiled a collection of renga, a kind of anthology and a set of canons according to which they were to be composed. To this were added the contributions of Shinkei and Takayama Sozei, who created a treatise in which they emphasized the importance of refined beauty (ushin, yugen).

And then a group of poets took up the form of wuxin renga verse, who set out to bring this poetry to perfection. Sogi led the group, and was joined by Socho, Inawashiro Kensai, and Shohaku. Although the goal seemed unattainable, these poets managed to achieve perfection of form, and this is recognized by everyone in Japan. However, after Soga's death, the decline of the wushin renga genre quickly set in.

But nothing dies just like that; this form was replaced by haiku, haikai and haiku. They were, as it were, transitional forms from mushin renga. These tercets absorbed humor and wit.

Haikai

The haikai poetic movement was characterized by the haigong form, the borrowing of words and Chinese words and phrases that were not previously allowed into the lexicon of poetic word form.

Of course, in how to write and what to use, there was a struggle over rules and canons. Matsunaga Teikotu promoted a formalistic approach. He wanted haikai to eventually become established as a noble, elegant form of courtly art. After the death of this poet, his rulebook was challenged by a unique school of poets under the leadership of Siyama Soin. He emphasized the comic aspects. The Yakazu Haikai movement arose at Shiyama's school. It was a practice of free association, based on which one had to come up with as many poems as possible alone.

In the 19th century, the art of haikai became so widespread that the number of writers grew into poor quality. Only Kobayashi Issa, who sang of small animals and also wrote a lot about his poverty, was able to break through this dam of second-rate poetry.

New form

The 19th century was also marked by the emergence of a galaxy of romantic poets. They became real movers of the new style, who did not want to recognize traditions and stood up for European poetry. Changes came immediately in poetry; the era was called the Golden Age of Shintaishi. These incredible changes were marked by the appearance of Shimazaki Toson's collection. The lyrics of this poet reflected the era of social change. And just then Doi Bansui appeared, who proclaimed romanticism. Shimazaki and Doi were very different from each other. Doi published a collection where he talked about the problems of existence and the eternal question of finding one’s place in this universe. And Shimazaki expressed sincere, youthful joy in spring, nature, and love.

Our centuries

These are the colors in which Japanese poetry emerged at the threshold of the twentieth century. Needless to say, there were many more wonderful poets than listed. And the poetic “battles” of young writers with old ones are very interesting, especially if you read the poems themselves. But it is impossible to pay attention to everyone in one article. Therefore, moving to the present century, we would like to mention that in these years Japanese poets had already recognized Rimbaud, Verlaine, Mallarmé, Baudelaire and other European poets who became famous for the genre of symbolism. And this undoubtedly influenced what the Japanese brought to it with their understanding of things, nature and their view of the world.

And if classical poetry may be a little difficult for you, then modern poetry is within your power. But under no circumstances rely on translation; often 10 translations can be made for one poem - and not one will be completely accurate. To do this, it is better to read the text in the original. If you want to improve your Japanese knowledge or learn it from scratch, we invite you to our languages!

Democratic poetry

Europeans and people of the New World greeted the tenth and twenties of the twentieth century, full of enthusiasm and confidence that in the very near future the world would be conquered. Jules Verne's novels already existed, technological progress replaced the old horse. New people joined art, young and active, who wanted not only to renounce the old, they wanted something radically new.

Innovation burst into Japanese poetry through the experimental poetic line of Kawaji Ryuko. He quickly found many like-minded people who abandoned symbolism, abandoned the old written bungo and brought a living colloquial genre into the world. Many naturalistic schools arose. Among the new poets, Fukushi Kojiro especially stood out, who composed poems about the true owner of the planet’s wealth - man. It was during these times that poetry became democratic, it spoke not only to the aristocratic elite and well-read people, but also to the common people. A “folk school” of poets emerged, from which real classics emerged, such as Ishikawa Takuboku.

If it seemed to you that socialist sentiments began to hover in the air of those times, so it is. The so-called “proletarian” literature and poetry in particular began to convey the truth about the difficult everyday life of ordinary people. And on this wave, poets who lived in exile rose to the top with their witty poems about the self-awareness of peasants and workers, and in the vanguard were poets with creativity that arose under the influence of “leftist” Western art.

Who stood in the opposite camp? Already at the end of the 20s of the twentieth century, on the basis of the magazine “Si to Siron”, an influential community emerged that advocated the ideals of surrealism and a clear distinction between politics and poetry. This movement was led by the famous Nishiwaki Junzaburo.

Modernists

Japanese modernism has proletarian roots. Sounds a little ironic, but it's true. Poetry was filled with formalistic techniques that the unconventional new movement could neither use nor bring to Japan such an author as Miyazawa Kenji.

Of course, there were some radically minded young people who wanted a place in the sun for a “stream of consciousness” without edits and restrictions and for the so-called “automatic writing.” The best of these poets are Ono Tozaburo, Murano Shiro and others. During their lifetime, they were recognized as masters of modernism, skillfully using technology without breaking away from real life.

Unbiased lyrics

Late 30s. Japan was illuminated by a new phenomenon - the magazine "Siki", which gave rise to "unbiased lyrics". On the other hand, currents from the Rekitei association poured into the poetic world, which declared themselves anarchists. This community was headed by Nakahara Chuya, and he promoted the combination of Buddhist abstraction of the philosophical school and the aesthetics of nonsense. These two streams of poetry bubbled and excited minds for a very long time, but the Second World War was ahead.

Post-war poetry

Japan as a state was expected to collapse. The national ideals and moral values ​​of the people that led to the tragic events that we all know about were rejected.

New poets sought to comprehend the essence of Evil and find that Good that could be opposed to the forces of destruction. The accusers of the past were Kaneko Mitsuharu. Front-line poetry by Ayukawa Nobuo and other famous poets appeared, telling about the horror of war. The “Left Movement” actively promoted “democratic poetry.” They began to lose their position, but were still popular among, so to speak, “dissenters.”

At the end of the 50s, the Areti association published poetry full of disappointment. In general, poetic circles turned their attention to negation and search. And in all this one could see a search not even for a new form, but for old values.

Traditional humanistic values ​​were now rediscovered in lyrics about friendship, love, and mercy. Tanikawa Shuntaro was truly one of the best poets of that time, who managed to show not only the Japanese, but also world art the aesthetics of new poetry. And what was yet to be discovered was the neo-avant-garde, the anarchy of poetic rebellion, the nonconformist direction and the nihilistic movement, which no longer rebelled against the foundations of Japan, but against the foundations of the world.

Which famous Japanese poems resonate with you the most? Do you like Japanese poetry? If yes, what period? Tell us in the comments.

Of course, to understand the Japanese philosophy embedded in poetry, you need to work hard, but you can learn to read Japanese in just a week! Don't believe me? Follow and get the video course “How to learn hiragana in a week”!

Creators – teachers, doctors, artists, writers,
artisans and samurai.
The author is not trying to paint a picturesque picture, but
notices something unusual in familiar objects.
The Japanese poet draws, outlines with a few words
something that you yourself must figure out, complete in
imagination.

Haiku structure

Haiku are distinguished by extreme brevity and unique poetics. It depicts the life of nature and the life of man in their fusion,

The first two lines describe the phenomenon. And the third line sums up the conclusion, the result, often unexpected.

Kigo, a “seasonal word”, is used as a mandatory element of the text - the narration is conducted in the present tense.

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

Yesa Buson (1718-1783)

Ariwara Narihira

Matsuo Basho.

Internet resources:

CHEAT SHEET ===========================
In Japanese poetics there is a term "after-feeling". The deep echo generated by the tanka does not subside immediately. A feeling, compressed like a spring, opens up, an image sketched in two or three strokes appears in its original integrity. The ability to awaken the imagination is one of the main properties of Japanese lyrics of small forms.
A short poem (just a few words) can become a powerful capacitor of thought and feeling. Each poem is a small poem. She calls you to think, to feel, to open your inner vision and inner hearing. Sensitive readers are co-creators of poetry.
Tanka, literally “short song,” originated in the depths of folk melodies in ancient times. It is still recited in a chanting manner, following a certain melody. Thangka is just five verses. The metric system of the tank is extremely simple. Japanese poetry is syllabic. A syllable consists of a vowel sound or a consonant combined with a vowel; There are not very many such combinations. Frequent repetitions create a melodious euphony. Tanka contains many constant poetic epithets and stable metaphors. There is no final rhyme; it is more than replaced by the finest orchestration, a roll call of consonances at the beginning and in the middle of the verses.
(from the preface by Vera Markova to the book “Japanese pentographs. A drop of dew”)

Tanka (otherwise waka or uta) is a traditional genre of Japanese poetry, a syllabic pentathlon of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables.
*(In the competition, deviations from the canon of the form are allowed for a 5-syllable line - 4-6 syllables, for a 7-syllable line - 6-9 syllables. However, the form 5-7-5-7-7 is preferable.)

At my gates
There are ripe fruits on the elm trees,
Hundreds of birds pinch them when they fly in,
Thousands of different birds gathered -
And you, my love, are not there...
Unknown author (translation by A. Gluskina.)

“According to the classical canon, the tanka should consist of two stanzas.
The first stanza contains three lines of 5-7-5 syllables respectively,
and the second - two lines of 7-7 syllables.
The total is a five-line verse of 31 syllables. This is what form is all about. I draw your attention to the fact that a line and a stanza are different things.
The content should be like this.
The first stanza presents a natural image,
the second is the feeling or sensation that this image evokes. Or vice versa." (Elena
One of the most accurate definitions of yugen can be recognized by Tanka Fujiwara Toshinari, who created his doctrine of yugen in poetry:

In the twilight of the evening
Autumn whirlwind over the fields
Pierces the soul...
Quail complaint!
Village of Deep Grass.

Yugen is a feeling of the fragility of the existing, but poets loved the state of “wandering in uncertainty” (tadayou). If avare is light yang, then yugen is impenetrable yin...

TANK 5-7-5-7-7 - short song
*has no rhyme
* The first three lines of a tanka are haiku or haiku.
* In general, the first three lines should be one sentence.
* must consist of TWO stanzas (not formally divided by a space).
- The first stanza presents a natural image,
- the second is the feeling or sensation that this image evokes.
* has styles:
Avare - light yang,
Yugen - impenetrable yin, intimate, secret, mystical
tadayou - wandering in uncertainty"
* ! past tense, not allowed in tanka
* ! There is a controversial issue regarding pronouns. (FUJIWARA SADAIE also uses them)
"...I'm the only one who hasn't changed here,
Like this old oak tree" (M. Basho) - Here you have both the pronoun and the past tense

+++
Deep in the mountains
tramples a red maple leaf
moaning deer

I hear him crying... inside me
all the autumn sadness

HAIKU-Hoku 5-7-5

* haiku text is divided in a ratio of 12:5 - either on the 5th syllable or on the 12th.
* the central place is occupied by a natural image, explicitly or implicitly correlated with human life.
* the text must indicate the time of year - for this, kigo - “seasonal word” is used as a mandatory element
* haiku are written only in the present tense: the author writes down his immediate impressions of what he has just seen or heard.
*haiku has no title
*does not use rhyme
* The art of writing haiku is the ability to describe a moment in three lines.
* every word, every image counts, they acquire special weight and significance
* Saying a lot using only a few words is the main principle of haiku.
* Haiku poems are often printed on a separate page. This is done so that the reader can thoughtfully, without rushing, penetrate the atmosphere of the poem.
++++
On a bare branch
The raven sits alone.
Autumn Evening (Matsuo Basho)

RUBAI - quatrains that rhyme like

* aaba, - the first, second and fourth rhyme
........ less often -
* aaaa, - all four lines rhyme.

++++
Flowers in one hand, a permanent glass in the other,
Feast with your beloved, forgetting about the whole universe,
Until death is suddenly torn from you by a tornado,
Like rose petals, the shirt of mortal life.
(Omar Khayyam)

I went out into the garden sad and not happy about the morning,
The nightingale sang to Rose in a mysterious way:
"Show yourself from the bud, rejoice in the morning,
How many wonderful flowers this garden gave!”
(Omar Khayyam)

SINQWINE 2-4-6-8-2

* used for didactic purposes, as an effective method of developing figurative speech
* useful as a tool for synthesizing complex information, as a snapshot for assessing students’ conceptual and vocabulary knowledge.
* Sinkwine
Line 1 - noun denoting the theme of syncwine
Line 2 - 2 adjectives that reveal some interesting, characteristic features of the phenomenon of the subject stated in the syncwine topic
Line 3 - 3 verbs revealing actions, influences characteristic of a given phenomenon or object
Line 4 - a phrase that reveals the essence of a phenomenon, an object, reinforcing the previous two lines
Line 5 - a noun that acts as a result, conclusion

Reverse syncwine - with the reverse sequence of verses (2-8-6-4-2);
Mirror syncwine - a form of two five-line stanzas,
where the first one is traditional,
and the second is reverse syncwines;

Cinquain butterfly - 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2;
Crown of cinquains - 5 traditional cinquains forming a complete poem;
A garland of cinquains is an analogue of a wreath of sonnets,
*crown of syncwine, to which the sixth syncwine is added,
where the first line is taken from the first syncwine,
the second line from the second, etc.

Strict adherence to the rules for writing syncwine is not necessary.
For example, to improve the text, you can use three or five words in the fourth line, and two words in the fifth line. It is possible to use other parts of speech.
Writing a syncwine is a form of free creativity that requires the author to be able to find the most significant elements in information material, draw conclusions and formulate them briefly.
In addition to the use of syncwines in literature lessons (for example, to summarize a completed work), it is also practiced to use a syncwine as a final assignment on the material covered in any other discipline.

WEDSING - ultra-short poetic form

*poem of two lines with a total of six syllables.
3+3 or 2+4.
*must be no more than five words
* there should be no punctuation marks.

++++
Japanese
butterfly
(Alexey Vernitsky)

Where are we
it's good there
(Oleg Yaroshev)

Continuation

Self-study in writing Japanese poetry part 1

Senryu (Japanese; “river willow”) is a genre of Japanese poetry that arose during the Edo period. The form coincides with a haiku, that is, it is a tercet consisting of lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables in length. But, unlike the lyrical genre of haiku, senryu is a satirical and humorous genre, far from admiring the beauty of nature. It is characteristic that senryu usually do not contain kigo - indications of one of the four seasons, mandatory for classical haiku.

In Japan's laughter culture, humor has always prevailed over satire. T. Grigorieva writes about this in the book “Japanese Artistic Tradition”. Therefore, haiku in the senryu genre were not persecuted by the authorities, as would happen with satirical works. Satire can end up in opposition to power even when it does not touch upon social issues: through the constant denunciation of morals, if the spiritual authorities consider this a violation of the monopoly of the top on criticism. But the senryu did not engage in moral denunciation of ordinary human vices. It is rather, even in satirical poems, a genre of joke, anecdote, sketch.

Although outwardly, in their content, senryu are similar to European jokes, there is a fundamental difference between senryu and the European laughter tradition. Senryu had a serious ideological justification, and senryu masters did not consider themselves poets inferior in aesthetics to the poets of past eras. Laughter in Japanese is "okashi". Here is what T. Grigorieva writes about the laughter culture of 18th-century Japan: “It is not surprising that Hisamatsu puts okashi on a par with aware, yugen, and sabi. They have equal rights. Each time has its own feeling: the severity of Nara, the beauty of Heian, the sadness of Muromachi, the laughter of Edo. Society removed what it was losing interest in and brought to the fore what it needed. The criterion of beauty remained constant.”

Senryu got their name from the poet Karai Senryu (;;;;, 1718-1790), thanks to whom the genre gained popularity.

Useful links
http://haiku.ru/frog/def.htm Alexey Andreev WHAT IS HAIKU?
http://www.haikupedia.ru/ Haikupedia - encyclopedia of haiku
http://tkana.zhuka.ru/kama/ugan/ In the style of yugen
meetings on the star bridge V. competition poems
Haiku competition (judging rules)
Ryoanji Garden Competitions
goodbye forever... acro-tank... attempt 6
http://termitnik.dp.ua/poem/152528/ TERMITNIK poetry
Classics (Acro-tanka) Konstantin

Tania Vanadis
Tsunami San
Dictionary of Russian kigo - seasonal words

1. Haiku or haiku - (initial stanza) unrhymed tercet of 17 syllables (5+7+5).
2. Tanka - (short song) unrhymed five lines of 31 syllables (5+7+5+7+7). The roots of poetry are in the human heart.
3. Kyoka - (crazy poetry), size like a tanka.
4. Rakushu - a satirical type of tank.
5. Teka or nagauta - (long song), tanka size, up to 100 lines.
6. Busoku-sekitai - (the soul of nature - the soul of man) translated - "Trace of the Buddha" - unrhymed six-line verses of 38 syllables (5+7+5+7+7+7).
7. Sedoka - (song of the rowers) unrhymed six lines of 38 syllables (5+7+7+5+7+7).
8. Shintaishi - (new verse) - the beginning, like a tanka, the total volume is unlimited - romantic poetry was approved by the poet Shimazaki Toson at the beginning of the twentieth century.
9. Cinquain - unrhymed five-line verse of 22 syllables (2+4+6+8+2) - was invented and put into use at the beginning of the twentieth century by the American poetess A. Crepsi.

SEDOKA - A genre of Japanese poetry - six lines in which the syllables in the lines are arranged as follows: 5-7-7-5-7-7

The eyes are sad
Wrinkles like trails.
Left behind by life...
Where is the surgeon?
What does plastic surgery do?
Body and soul?....
KLARA RUBIN, MEMBER OF LITO,
...
We coexist
Very long time.
But we never got around to it
Talk.
It would be nice for us to be in heaven
Be in the same squadron.
ALEXANDER FREIDLES, MEMBER OF LITO,
...
The rain is drizzling.
My pride is crying
In my thoughts, saying goodbye to you -
Captive of feelings.
The soul will perk up a little.
Wash away the tears from your face.
KIRA KRUZIS IS A MEMBER OF LITO.

PS:
Don't use a cheat sheet as the basis for everything...
it was collected from what was available on the Internet at that time
(it was created for me)