Waka (和歌;'Japanese poem') is a type of poetry in classicalJapanese literature. Althoughwaka in modern Japanese is written as和歌, in the past it was also written as倭歌 (seeWa, an old name for Japan), and a variant name isyamato-uta (大和歌).
The wordwaka has two different but related meanings: the original meaning was "poetry in Japanese" and encompassed several genres such aschōka andsedōka (discussed below); the later, more common definition refers to poetry in a5-7-5-7-7 metre. Up to and during the compilation of theMan'yōshū in the eighth century, the wordwaka was a general term for poetry composed in Japanese, and included several genres such astanka (短歌; "short poem"),chōka (長歌; "long poem"),bussokusekika (仏足石歌; "Buddha footprint poem") andsedōka (旋頭歌; "repeating-the-first-part poem"). However, by the time of theKokinshū's compilation at the beginning of the tenth century, all of these forms except for thetanka andchōka had effectively gone extinct, andchōka had significantly diminished in prominence. As a result, the wordwaka became effectively synonymous withtanka, and the wordtanka fell out of use until it was revived at the end of the nineteenth century (seeTanka).
Tanka (hereafter referred to aswaka) consist of five lines (句,ku; literally "phrases") of 5-7-5-7-7on or syllabic units. Therefore,tanka is sometimes calledMisohitomoji (三十一文字), meaning it contains 31 syllables in total.
The termwaka originally encompassed a number of differing forms, principallytanka (短歌,"short poem") andchōka (長歌,"long poem"), but also includingbussokusekika,sedōka (旋頭歌,"memorized poem") andkatauta (片歌,"poem fragment").[2] These last three forms, however, fell into disuse at the beginning of theHeian period, andchōka vanished soon afterwards. Thus, the termwaka came in time to refer only totanka.[3][4]
| Name | Form | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Katauta | 5-7-7 | One half of an exchange of two poems; the shortest type ofwaka[5] |
| Chōka | 5-7-5-7-5-7...5-7-7 | Repetition of 5 and 7on phrases, with a last phrase containing 7on. Mainly composed to commemorate public events, and often followed by ahanka orenvoi. Numerouschōka appear prominently in theMan'yōshū, but only 5 in theKokinshū. |
| Tanka | 5-7-5-7-7 | The most widely-composed type ofwaka throughout history |
| Sedōka | 5-7-7-5-7-7 | Composed of two sets of 5-7-7 (similar to twokatauta). Frequently in the form ofmondōka (問答歌,"dialogue poem") or an exchange between lovers (sōmonka). |
| Bussokusekika | 5-7-5-7-7-7 | Atanka with an extra phrase of 7on added to the end |
Chōka consist of 5-7on phrases repeated at least twice, and conclude with a 5-7-7 ending
The briefestchōka documented isMan'yōshū no. 802, which is of a pattern 5-7 5-7 5-7 5-7-7. It was composed byYamanoue no Okura in theNara period and runs:[6]
瓜食めば | Uri hameba | When I eat melons |
The chōka above is followed by anenvoi (反歌,hanka) in tanka form, also written by Okura:
銀も | Shirokane mo | What are they to me, |
[English translation byEdwin Cranston]
In the earlyHeian period (at the beginning of the 10th century), chōka was seldom written and tanka became the main form of waka. Since then, the generic termwaka came to be almost synonymous with tanka. Famous examples of such works are the diaries ofKi no Tsurayuki andIzumi Shikibu, as well as such collections of poem tales asThe Tales of Ise andThe Tales of Yamato.
Lesser forms ofwaka featured in theMan'yōshū and other ancient sources exist. Besides that, there were many other forms like:
Waka has a long history, first recorded in the early 8th century in theKojiki andMan'yōshū. Under influence from other genres such askanshi, novels and stories such asTale of Genji and even Western poetry, it developed gradually, broadening its repertoire of expression and topics.[7]
The literary historianDonald Keene used four large categories
The most ancient waka were recorded in the historical record theKojiki and the 20 volumes of theMan'yōshū, the oldest surviving waka anthology. The editor of theMan'yōshū isanonymous, but it is believed that the final editor wasŌtomo no Yakamochi. He was a waka poet who belonged to the youngest generation represented in the anthology; indeed, the last volume is dominated by his poems. The first waka of volume 1 was byEmperor Ōjin.Nukata no Ōkimi,Kakinomoto no Hitomaro,Yamabe no Akahito,Yamanoue no Okura, Ōtomo no Tabito and his son Yakamochi were the greatest poets in this anthology. TheMan'yōshū recorded not only the works of the royalty and nobility, but also works of soldiers and farmers whose names were not recorded. The main topics of theMan'yōshū were love, sadness (especially on the occasion of someone's death), and other miscellaneous topics.
During the Nara period and the early Heian period, the court favored Chinese-style poetry (kanshi) and the waka art form largely fell out of official favor.[8] But in the 9th century, Japan stopped sending official envoys toTang dynasty China. This severing of ties, combined with Japan's geographic isolation, essentially forced the court to cultivate native talent and look inward, synthesizing Chinese poetic styles and techniques with local traditions. The waka form again began flourishing, andEmperor Daigo ordered the creation of an anthology of waka,[9] where the waka of ancient poets and their contemporaries were collected; the anthology was named "Kokin Wakashū", meaningCollection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poems. It was presented to the emperor in 905. This was the first waka anthology edited and issued under imperial auspices,[10] and it commenced a long and distinguished tradition of imperial anthologies of waka that continued up to the Muromachi period.
The first three imperially-commissionedwaka anthologies (三代集,Sandai-shū) were theKokin Wakashū, theGosen Wakashū and theShūi Wakashū. TheKokinshū was compiled byKi no Tsurayuki,Ki no Tomonori,Ōshikōchi no Mitsune andMibu no Tadamine on the orders ofEmperor Daigo in 905. It collected roughly 1,100waka that had not appeared in theMan'yōshū into 20 volumes, arranged by theme. TheKokinshū poems are generally considered to be reflective and idealistic.[citation needed]
Roughly half a century after the compilation of theKokinshū, in 951,Emperor Murakami commanded theFive Men of the Pear Chamber to compile theGosen Wakashū, in addition to preparingkundoku readings for theMan'yōshū, which by that time was already difficult for even educated Japanese to read.
In 1005Emperor Ichijō commanded the compilation of theShūishū.
The above three court anthologies, in addition to the five following anthologies, are known as the "Collections of Eight Ages" (八代集,Hachidai-shū), and were all compiled during theHeian period.
After the Heian period, during theKamakura period and later,renga, a form of collaborative linked poetry, began to develop. In the late Heian period, three of the last great waka poets appeared:Fujiwara no Shunzei, his sonFujiwara no Teika, andEmperor Go-Toba. Emperor Go-Toba ordered the creation of a new anthology and joined in editing it. The anthology was namedShin Kokin Wakashū. He edited it again and again until he died in 1239. Teika made copies of ancient books and wrote on the theory of waka. His descendants, and indeed almost all subsequent poets, such asShōtetsu, taught his methods and studied his poems. The courtly poetry scenes were historically dominated by a few noble clans and allies, each of which staked out a position.
By this period, a number of clans had fallen by the wayside, leaving theReizei and theNijō families; the former stood for "progressive" approaches, the varied use of the "ten styles" and novelty, while the latter conservatively hewed to already established norms and the "ushin" (deep feelings) style that dominated courtly poetry.[citation needed] Eventually, the Nijo family became defunct, leading to the ascendancy of the "liberal" Reizei family. Their innovative reign was soon deposed by the Asukai family, aided by the Ashikaga shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshinori.
In theMuromachi period, renga became popular in the court and people around it. It spread to the priestly classes and thence to wealthy commoners. In much the same way as waka, renga anthologies were produced under the imperial aegis. As momentum and popular interest shifted to the renga form, the tanka style was left to the Imperial court. Conservative tendencies exacerbated the loss of life and flexibility. A tradition named Kokin-denju,[citation needed] the heritage of Kokin Wakashū, was developed. It was a system on how to analyze the Kokin Wakashū and included the secret (or precisely lost) meaning of words. Studying waka degenerated into learning the many intricate rules, allusions, theories, and secrets, so as to produce tanka that would be accepted by the court.
There were comical waka already in theKojiki and theMan'yōshū, but the noble style of waka in the court inhibited and scorned such aspects of waka.[citation needed] Renga was soon in the same position with many codes and strictures reflecting literary tradition.Haikai no renga (also called justhaikai (playful renga)) and kyōka, comical waka, were a reaction to this seriousness. But in the Edo-period waka itself lost almost all of its flexibility and began to echo and repeat old poems and themes.
In the early Edo period, waka was not a fashionable genre. Newly createdhaikai no renga (of whosehokku, or opening verse,haiku was a late 19th-century revision) was the favored genre. This tendency was kept during this period, but in the late Edo period waka faced new trends from beyond the court.Motoori Norinaga, the great reviver of the traditional Japanese literature, attempted to revive waka as a way of providing "traditional feeling expressed in genuine Japanese way". He wrote waka, and waka became an important form to his followers, theKokugaku scholars.
InEchigo Province a Buddhist priest,Ryōkan, composed many waka in a naïve style intentionally avoiding complex rules and the traditional way of waka. He belonged to another great tradition of waka: waka for expressing religious feeling. His frank expression of his feeling found many admirers, then and now. In the cities, a comical, ironic and satiric form of waka emerged. It was calledkyōka (狂歌), mad poem, and was loved by intellectual people in big cities likeEdo andOsaka. It was not precisely a new form; satirical waka was a style known since ancient times. But it was in the Edo period that this aspect of waka developed and reached an artistic peak. Still, most waka poets kept to ancient tradition or made those reformation another stereotype, and waka was not a vibrant genre in general at the end of this period.
| Term | Japanese | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| makura-kotoba | 枕詞 | Literally, "pillow word". Poetic epithets generally not used for their literal meaning but to "connect" with the word (often a place name) that follows |
| jokotoba | 序詞 | Literally, "preface words". Longer versions ofmakura-kotoba |
| kakekotoba | 掛詞 | Literally, "hanging word". A word deliberately used to convey two meanings, due to the existence of separate homophonic words. An example ismatsu, which can mean either "a pine tree" (松,matsu) or "to wait" (待つ,matsu). |
| engo | 縁語 | Literally, "linked words". Semantically related words used on different positions of awaka |
| tsuiku | 対句 | Literally, "paired phrases". Similar toparallelism. |
| kugire | 句切れ | Literally, "phrase gap". The most significant semantic gap in awaka. |
| honkadori | 本歌取り | Literally, "taking from the main poem". Allusion to or quoting one or more lines from a poem written by someone else. |
| taigen-dome | 体言止め | Ending a poem with a noun or noun phrase. SinceJapanese is asubject–object–verb language, complete grammatical sentences typically end with the verb, but inwaka composition this is not necessarily the case. |
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