To the Lighthouse: Pivot

A feature of English language tanka is the employment of a pivot. The pivot must make sense when read with the upper poem ( kami-no-ku) as well as when read with the lower poem (shimo-no-ku). The pivot is mainly used to change the direction of the tanka.  It not only reveals the connection between the two parts of the tanka but also adds a richness to each part.

Here are three fine tanka with pivot lines and detailed comments on their functional roles and thematic or symbolic significance.

-- excepted from "Pivot Lines and Last Lines" (pp. 36-7), The Way of Tanka by Naomi Beth Wakan (see my brief introduction here)

This link, this pivot, as I said earlier, is often the third line of the tanka,  In a way, it is hanging in the air so the poet can use it to swing from objective to subjective mood., or vice versa. To fulfill its function, therefore, the pivot line must make sense when read with the first two lines as well as when read as a precursor to the last two lines. In other words, the pivot line means one thing as a finish to the first couple of lines and something else as a herald to the last two lines. By this linking, both the initial image and the reaction to it  are not just joined, but are taken to deeper depths, and the full five lines resonate more fully with unexpected harmonies. The pivot line adds a richness to each section as well as revealing their connection....

...Let's consider this tanka by Francine Porad

a woman

holds a waving child high

as the train passes

where ... when ...

did summer disappear

The woman and child in this tanka do not have an obvious connection with summer until the line describing something passing speedily, "the train" is introduced. It links the two topics perfectly as the train passing speedily past the mother and child is compared with summer passing speedily in the consciousness of the writer, and may also be subtly suggesting that childhood moves to adulthood too fast ...

-- excerpted from my "Poetic Musings:  Bruise Tanka by Susan Constable"

a large bruise

deep inside the mango

unexpected

the way you turned away

when I needed you most

Simply Haiku, 8:3, Autumn 2011

Susan Constable

Modeled on traditional Japanese tanka, this heartfelt poem is made up of five poetic phrases (equivalent to five ku of 5-7-5-7-7) 1 and structured into two parts (“jo,” the preface, and the main statement) with a pivot (L3). It can be read as either of the following:

a large bruise

deep inside the mango

unexpected

the way you turned away

when I needed you most

or

a large bruise

deep inside the mango

unexpected

the way you turned away

when I needed you most

Structurally speaking, the jo, is typically a natural image or image cluster (“long jo”) that precedes the “main statement” of the poem (Cranston, xxiii). It is common in love poetry, where the jo performs a “valuable imagistic function” (ibid.). In the case of Susan’s tanka, the prefatory image of “a large bruise/ deep inside the mango” is visually stunning and psychologically suggestive. It prepares readers to see  what's lying under the surface.

Jo  may be of two types. In one there is no logical connection between the jo and the main statement of the poem. The connection is “solely based on wordplay” (ibid.). This type is called “mushin” (meaningless) 2. In the other, called “ushin” (meaningful), the prefatory image is “logically metaphorical or at least resonates closely with the emotional point of the poem” (ibid., xxiii-xxiv). In the case of her tanka, Susan uses the ushin jo, combined with the emotionally effective pivotal line, “unexpected,” to build up a metaphoric relationship between the two parts of the poem and to uncover two “big bruises:” one is visible and portrayed in the jo (Ls 1&2), and the other invisible and left on the psyche of the speaker as implied in the main statement (Ls 3-5).

Strategically speaking, through a pivot on the unexpected (L3) to uncover the human relations aspect, Susan’s tanka effectively builds, poetic phrase/line (ku) by poetic phrase/line (ku), to an emotionally powerful ending that has the most weight and reveals the theme of betrayal.

-- excerpted from Judge's commentary by Susan Constable

listening
as her memory
slips
the family ghosts
out of the closet

Honorable Mention, 2014 TSA International Tanka Contest               

Celia Stuart-Powles
               
This tanka literally slips from beginning to end, almost like a one-line haiku. The ambiguous first line puts us on edge, making us wonder who is listening to what. The pivot in line three deftly turns the tanka and the reader’s expectations in a completely different direction. As the words slip past us, interpretations jostle for position and demand our involvement. Of all the minimalist tanka among the contest entries, this one shines.