Gogyōka

Gogyōka (五行歌 "five line poem"?), or Gogyohka, is a form of Japanese poetry pioneered by Enta Kusakabe in 1957 in his quest to find freedom from the constraints of tanka poetry.[1] Unlike tanka, gogyōka does not have any syllable requirement for the length of its lines. The only hardfast rule of gogyōka is that the poem should be five lines long, with line breaks occurring as a result of natural breath-pattern,[2] which is individual to a particular speaker and their languages. Enta established "the five rules of Gogyohka" in September,2008 as follows.

1.Gogyohka is a new short poem format founded on "Waka"(the older tanka) and "Kodaikayo"(the oldest poetry) from Japan.
2.Gogyohka is generally written in five lines, but occasionally in four or six lines.
3.Each line is in itself a phrase and they are separated by the end of the phrase or pause of breath.
4.Each line doesn't have a limitation regarding the number of words or syllables, but the whole five lines need some poetic resonance.
5. Gogyohka has no restraints regarding themes or contents.[3].

In addition,Enta trademarked "Gogyohka" in Japan.[4]

Contents

Examples

The cherry tree,
pregnant with flowers,
longs for
Its moment of

Incarnation
—Kyoko Shimose[5]

The rain falls steadily
until we part
Gazing at the pale blue sky
through the window of the train

I feel no sadness
—Matthew Lane[6]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Kusakabe, Enta. Gogyohka. Tokyo: Shisei-sha press, 2008. 16-18
  2. ^ Kusakabe, Enta. Gogyohka (Five-Line Poetry), translated by Matthew Lane. Tokyo: Shisei-sha press, 2006. p8
  3. ^ Kusakabe,Enta.Sugu kakeru Gogyohka(すぐ書ける五行歌) Tokyo: Shisei-sha press, 2008 p136
  4. ^ Japanese Wikipedia"五行歌(Gogyohka)”
  5. ^ Kusakabe, Enta. Gogyohka (Five-Line Poetry), translated by Matthew Lane. Tokyo: Shisei-sha press, 2006. p72
  6. ^ Kusakabe, Enta. Gogyohka (Five-Line Poetry), translated by Matthew Lane. Tokyo: Shisei-sha press, 2006. p73

External links