誰からも
dare kara mo
忘れ去られた
wasure sarareta
ような夜
yoo na yoru
隣の部屋に
tonari no heya ni
鳴りべルやまず
nari beru yamazu
Glossary
|
CHARACTER
|
RŌMAJI
|
DEFINITION
|
POSSIBLE SYNONYMS
|
|---|---|---|---|
| べル | beru (n.) | object with ringing sound | bell, chime, ringer |
| 誰からも | dare kara mo (prep. + n.) | being beside or close to somebody or something else | by everyone, by anyone, everyone, anyone |
| 部屋 | heya (n.) | space; part of a building | room, chamber, apartment |
| 鳴り | nari (adj.) | continuing sound of a bell | ringing, chiming, humming |
| に | ni (prep.) | indicates general position or location in order to be precise about the exact physical location | at, on, by |
| の | no (poss.) | indicates connection with or ownership | of, or indicates ownership by use of an apostrophe— i.e., neighbor’s |
| 隣 | tonari (n.) | somebody or something nearby | neighbor, neighboring |
| 忘れ去ら れた | wasure sarareta (v. + past part.) | not remember; leave something behind | forgotten, the forgotten, has forgotten, has not remembered |
| やまず | yamazu (v.) | does not end | doesn’t stop, doesn’t cease, doesn’t quit, doesn't end |
| ような | yoo na (prep.) | when two things or two people are similar or share some of the same features, qualities, or characteristics | like, such as, such |
| 夜 | yoru (n.) | daily period of darkness | night, evening, hours of darkness |
Background
About Tanka
• The term tanka poetry refers to a Japanese five-line poem with 5,7,5,7, and 7
syllables. Tanka, translated, means “short song.” It is similar to haiku in that there are
specific amounts of syllables for each line of the poem and it utilizes the literary
techniques of personification, metaphor and simile to describe and create the ability
for the reader to visualize the author’s descriptions.
Bio
Tawara Machi is a contemporary Japanese writer, translator, and poet. She is credited with revitalizing the tanka for modern Japanese audiences. At age twenty-six, Tawara took Japan by storm with the publication of her first work: a book of tanka entitled Sarada kinenbi, or Salad Anniversary, in English. She became an overnight celebrity. Readers inspired by Tawara’s poems have sent her tens of thousands of letters and more than 200,000 tanka, over a thousand of which she has compiled and published. The oldest contributor is a ninety-one-year-old man, the youngest an eleven-year-old girl.