Hatsu-shimo no
Oki-madowaseru
Shiragiku no hana.
“If it were my wish
White chrysanthemum to cull:—
Puzzled by the frost
Of the early autumn time,
I perchance might pluck the flower.”[134]
There is also an abbreviated form called hokku, which contains only the 17 syllables of the first 3 lines of the tanka. The following is an example:—
Kare-eda ni