A working space for my notes on Ogura Hyakunin Isshu - a classical Japanese anthology of 100 poems by 100 poets. My thanks to Jane Reichhold and fellow members of the AHApoetry Forum for their encouragement, advice and participation; and also to my fellow fellow members of Eratosphere for their comments and suggestions.

Tanka Parts

The structure of classical Japanese Waka (Tanka)
'Spring has come' by Empress Jito
5 lines/ku
31 ‘syllables’ (on)
s/l/s/l/l
Upper
Kami-
no-ku
shoku
ha
ru
si
gi
te


5
niku
na
tsu
ki
ta
ru
ra
shi
7
sanku
shi
ro
ta
e
no
Pivot  line
kakekotoba
5
Lower
Shimo-no-ku
shiku
ko
ro
mo
ho
shi
ta
ri
7
kekku
a
ma
no
ka
gu
ya
ma
7

A phrase break (kugire)  after the 1st line/ku is called a shoku-gire, after the 2nd a niku-gire, etc. This poem breaks after the 2nd and 4th = 5/7, 5/7, 7.

Haru sugite natsu kitaru rashi. Shirotae no koromo hoshi-tari, Ama no Kaguyama.

A common prosodic pattern of classical waka.

haru
spring
koromo
Garments, clothing
sugite
過ぎて
passed
ama-no
天の
heavenly
natsu
summer
yama
mountain
Kitaru-rashi
夏来たるらし
Come(s), next, coming, came + suffix –rashi (it seems)
Kagu
香具
Name of mountain
Shiro-tae
白妙
White- (tae=bark fibre cloth – a common modifier of ‘white’ (pure, dazzling)
hoshi tari
ほしたり
To dry/air
春過ぎて
夏来たるらし
白妙の
衣ほしたり
天の香具山
持統天
I see spring has passed
and summer come it appears
delicate white robes
are being hung out to air
on heavenly Mount Kagu
Empress Jito