Busy Searching for Light : Some Modern English Tanka

In this work, the author shows that composing modern English tanka is almost like writing the material that one would find in a diary, for not only do the authors tanka poems focus on love and nature but they also concentrate on philosophical speculations, as well as the expression of intense emotional states like anger, sadness, and joy. Additionally, the authors writings demonstrate that in an English-language tanka, as compared to an English haiku, there is a greater use of both a strongly symbolic language and the cleverly placed metaphoric phrase. Finally, this work shows that the composing of English tanka can very much appeal to an attentive readers inherent sense of humor.