What is Gogyoshi?

What is Gogyoshi?

Very Simple!
Gogyoshi is a poem written in five lines. Writing a poem in five lines is its only rule. The content of gogyohshi is free, its themes are chosen by the poet. There are other five-line poetries in the world, for example, gogyoka, tanka, cinquain, and limerick. These poetries have certain rules such as number of permitted syllables, line lengths, and rhyme. Gogyoshi has no such rules. It is the freest form of five-line poetry in the world.

But gogyoshi doesn't permit to be written in 4 or 6 lines, though gogyoka occasionally permits this. Gogyoshi is written only in five lines. If the poem is written in four lines, we should call it "Yongyoshi"meaning a poem written in four lines. If the poem is written in six lines, you should call it "Rokugyoshi" meaning a poem written in six lines.

As for a title, some Japanese poets add it to gogyoshi and others don't. I will always add a title to my Japanese and English gogyoshi because I can't tell one gogyoshi from the other. If I add it to my many gogyoshi, I will be able to tell them apart. I will write a short title in all capital letters so that readers don't misunderstand the title as one line of 6 lines poetry. Gogyoshi is for me 5 lines poetry with a short title. But it isn't the same as cinquain because it has no syllabic restraints unlike cinquain and tanka.

We have some genre such as Gogyoshi, Gogyoshibun, Gogyoshiren, Gogyoshiga and Gogyoshiphoto. Let's enjoy writing Gogyoshi and reading Gogyoshi from now on!

But now, most lines of your Gogyoshi is a bit too long. An ideal Gogyoshi is for memorizing all lines without reading them ! Because Gogyoshi is not for reading it as a text but for recite it as a song without a melody! Short lines of Gogyoshi is easy to memorize and recite. The shorter, the better. The short simplicity or the brevity stimulates the imagination of readers and give them deep emotion. We call it “yoin”(余韻) in Japanese. I will say again,”Gogyoshi isn’t for reading but reciting! We should write Gogyoshi so short that we can memorize and recite all five lines. I want to hold a Gogyoshi reading without the text, with voices of your hearts!

Taro Aizu