歌会わせ!

Oct 14, 2008 23:25

So, we're doing a poetry party in Japanese on Thursday, and of course the homework is to write たんか. They don't have to be in Japanese...except for the students that the prof knows are in 4th year or beyond (ie, me).

さて、さて、

べんきょうは
さんかげつぶり
せんせいへ
しゅくだいはやだ
というわくない

It's been three months since
I've done any studying
There's no way I can
Just say to the professor,
"I don't wanna do homework!"

つくれない
うたはたいへん
わかんない
かきかたなんか
ほととぎすかな

It sure is a pain
That I can't make poetry
I don't understand
How to even write it down
Rooster*! Some more syllables**!

*Okay, there's really no good translation of this word to make the joke work in English. Literally, ほととぎす is a type of rooster. It happens to show up all over the place in Japanese poetry (especially haiku), not because it's a particularly common bird, but because it's five syllables long. We went over words like that in class, and I took the classes out of order, so this one isn't from the period we're studying. Of course, the prof'll get the reference, and that's what really counts, isn't it?
**かな and や are endings used in haiku to add some extra syllables that mean absolutely nothing. So why not throw them in here, since I'm basically making fun of my poetry anyway (and because it's Kominz and he'll think it's hilarious).

I also have an alternate version of the first poem that ends in せんせいのやつ because I figured out that it's 7もら exactly. But I think the more pc reworked version flows better. That middle line seems to be the hardest; no wonder they switched to shorter poems later.

[Edit: Poetry's a work in progress, ne? I think these translations work better in English, and they've even got the right syllable counts now (5/7/5/7/7).]

日本語, school, ramblings

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