tanaga
tanagâ with stress marks
short poem (monorhyme quatrain)
Usage Note
Tanaga is a traditional Filipino poetic form consisting of four lines of seven syllables each, all sharing the same end rhyme (monorhyme). It often employs talinghaga (figurative language) to encode a hidden moral or message, and is taught in Philippine schools as a core piece of indigenous literary heritage.
Examples
" Maikli lang ang isang tanaga. "
Natural Translation
A tanaga is just short.
Literal Translation
Short only the one short-poem.
" Sumulat siya ng isang tanaga tungkol sa pag-ibig. "
Natural Translation
He/she wrote a short poem about love.
Literal Translation
Wrote he/she of one short-poem about love.
" Sa pitong pantig ng bawat taludtod, naglalaman ang tanaga ng malalim na talinghaga na nagtatago ng aral tungkol sa buhay. "
Natural Translation
In the seven syllables of each line, the tanaga holds deep figurative language that conceals a lesson about life.
Literal Translation
In seven syllables of each line, contains the short-poem of deep figure that hides of lesson about life.
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