Hmm. Tanka doesn't really work for me. It's longer form is supposed to allow more space for development of the poet's emotions but I just feel that I have too much space to play with. I wonder if it's usual to find it difficult to switch between tanka and haiku? Haiku and Senryu, yes. Haiku and Haibun, yes. But somehow, tanka is harder to grasp. And I still enjoy the rigorous discipline of objectivity that haiku demands. Anyhow, Sir (I just gave him that title) Makoto Ueda has again done an excellent job in producing this work. His translations pay much attention to nuances and the unsaid. His Japanese sensibilities are very much sharper than his peers'.
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