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The Tanaga

Short Lyric and Epigrammatic Forms

A traditional Tagalog verse form of the Philippines, a short rhymed quatrain of equal-syllable lines carrying a single condensed observation, proverb or emotional statement, comparable in scale and function to the Japanese haiku or the Malay pantun quatrain.

Facts
Place of Origin
The Philippines, pre-colonial Tagalog oral tradition. 1
Structure
Four lines of seven syllables each, traditionally rhymed AABB, though later practice loosened the rhyme scheme. 1
Notable Example
Tanaga recorded in early Spanish colonial-era Tagalog vocabularies and still composed by contemporary Filipino poets reviving the form. 1
Connections

Form Of Genre

Lyric Poetry, Genres
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Sources
1. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Princeton University Press

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