Just a Mona Lisa:

I took my formula for the choka from www.thepoetsgarret.com -- and decided to go with the older form for the sake of tradition. Here's what is said about the choka in the Garret.

The most intricate Japanese Poetry form is the Choka, or Long Poem.

The early form consisted of a series of Katuata joined together. This gives a choice of form structures of ..... 5 - 7 - 7 - 5 - 7 - 7.. etc, or .. 5 - 7 - 5 - 5 - 7 - 5.. etc.

Later the form introduced the Japanese equivalent of a couplet consisting of 12 onji or sound units, pausing after the fifth unit, giving it a structured sequence of multiples of, 5 - 7 onji and still with a finishing sequence using the Katuata of, 5 - 7 - 7 (19) onji, or 5 - 7 - 5 (17) onji.

The Choka could be any total line length and indeed many exceeded 100 lines.

Looking at this, it is easy to see why Poetic Historians believe the Katuata is the original basic unit of Japanese poetry using either the 17 or 19 unit onji.


The traditional style also called in choosing the 19-beat Katuata instead of the 17.

Gaer