Japanese
| Kanji in this term
|
| 反
|
歌
|
はん
Grade: 3
|
か
Grade: 2
|
| kan'on
|
Etymology
From Middle Chinese-derived elements 反 (han, “to reflect, to return”) + 歌 (ka, “poem”).
Pronunciation
Noun
反歌 • (hanka)
- (poetry) a 短歌 (tanka, “short poem”) following a 長歌 (chōka, “long poem”) as a reflection or reply to the latter; compare English envoi
- Synonym: 返し歌 (kaeshiuta)
| Examples
|
- (by the mother of a departing ambassador to Tang China):
- 客人之宿埒爲野爾霜降者吾子羽裹天乃鶴群 [Man'yōgana]
- 旅人の宿りせむ野に霜降らば我が子はぐくめ天の鶴群 [Modern spelling]
- Tabibito no yadori semu no ni shimo furaba a ga ko hagukume ame no tazumura.
- When frost falls on the fields on which the traveler may take rest, please protect my child with your wings, O flock of cranes of the heavens.
- An envoi to poem 1790 (akihagi no tsumadou ka koso hitorigo ni... waga omou ago ma-sakiku ari koso), a poem addressed by a mother to her departing son wishing him good travels, the hanka adds an addendum requesting cranes help keep him safe should frost fall on a field he takes rest on.
- 905–914, Kokin Wakashū (book 19, poem 1004 by Mibu no Tadamine, see here):
- [Historical kana usage]
- 君が世にあふさか山のいはし水こがくれたりと思ひけるかな
- Kimi ga yo ni Afusaka-yama no ifasimidu kogakuretari to omofikeru ka na.
- I had thought that, for as long as the emperor reigns, the water that trickles down from Mount Ōsaka would only be hidden by the shade of the trees.
- [Modern kana usage]
- 君が世におうさか山のいわし水こがくれたりと思いけるかな
- Kimi ga yo ni Ōsaka-yama no iwashimizu kogakuretari to omoikeru ka na.
- I had thought that, for as long as the emperor reigns, the water that trickles down from Mount Ōsaka would only be hidden by the shade of the trees.
- An envoi to poem 1003 (kuretake no yoyo no furugoto nagariseba Ikaho-no-numa no ika ni shite...kimi ga yachiyo o wakaetsutsu min), a meta poem by Mibu no Tadamine, the author of many poems in the Kokinshū, telling the story of how, because of poetry, even a low-status person such as himself is able to find pride in his work, the hanka is a metaphorical rumination—Mibu thought that his life would never be seen by others, just like how the trickles of water down from the mountain would forever stay hidden by the trees; the compilation of the Kokinshū gave him an opportunity to find that role, and so he writes his wrongful assumption, with gratitude and pride.
|
References