Than Bauk
Than Bauk - That's Life, Stress Relief & Cheers
The Than Bauk (also Thanbauk) is a short, humorous type of poem, similar to an epigram. It is an old Burmese form which consists of at least three lines of only four syllables per line. An important part of the Than Bauk is it's descending rhyme pattern which is the same as the begining of the Ya-Du form.
The last syllable of the first line, the third syllable of the second line and the second syllable of the last line must all rhyme.
More verses can be added using that same pattern for each verse. More lines can also be added by creating a descending chain of rhymes following that same pattern. The schematic view below will clarify the rhyme pattern:
For two or more verses:
x x x a
x x a x
x a x x
x x x b
x x b x
x b x x
etc.
Descending chain patttern:
x x x a
x x a x
x a x b
x x b x
x b x c
x x c x
x c x d
etc.
Where x,a,b,c and d = 1 syllable and a,b,c and d = the placement of the rhyming syllable.
Than Bauk examples:
That's Life
I wonder why
minutes fly by
on my days off!
Stress Relief
Warm breezes blow,
no sorrow here,
no snow or rain.
Just bright sunshine,
weather's fine and
the wine flows free.
Dream on, relax,
forget taxes.
But facts intrude.
And so you wake,
but that break you
have taken helps!
Cheers
Tea will suffice
not as nice though
as ice cold beer
to make cheery
those dreary times
when sun climbs high
and primes the heat.
