Who shall hear of us
in the time to come?
Let him say there was
a burst of fragrance
from black branches.
Al Que Quiere!, 1917
William Carlos Williams
Commentary: This five-line stanza that concludes William Carlos Williams’ short “Love Song,” from his first collection Al Que Quiere! (1917), looks and feels much like today’s tanka in English: the interrogative of the first two lines, the stanza’s two-part structure, the poem’s alliteration, and its vivid, single image from nature are all elements common to traditional Japanese tanka and its English cousin... excerpted from "To the Lighthouse: Introduction to The Tanka Anthology by Michael McClintock"
FYI: For more of "found tanka," see "To the Lighthouse: 'Tanka' Found in Western Tradition"
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