Spring begins officially this week (on the 19th), and has me looking forward with hope towards the rest of the year. I am keeping my fingers crossed as I work on my garden this year, and hope that the results make me spring with joy! The 20th this week celebrates one of those creatures we see jumping around often – the frog – with World Frog Day, and is also National Jump Out Day. With this in mind, I bring you a poetic form that also does a bit of jumping within its lines – with its rhyming scheme.

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Poetic Sundays: Spring Wit(h) Joy: Than-Bauk’s Jumping Rhymes

As mentioned earlier, I bring you the than-bauk because of its cool rhyming scheme. The Than-Bauk has its origins in the Bamar people of Myanmar (formerly called Burma), one of the many ethnic groups of the nation. I love how the than-bauk seems to be a dichotomy of sorts. Rigid structural and rhyming rules contrast with its theme of wit and jumping / staircase rhyme scheme.

So What is the Than-Bauk poetic form?

The Than-Bauk (or Thanbauk) is a short epigrammatic Burmese verse, consisting of three lines of four syllables each. Like the Ya-Du and the Luc-Bat featured earlier on my blog, this form uses climbing rhymes.

So the Than-Bauk’s features are:

• Tristich: Traditionally, it has one three-line stanza (tercet).
• Syllabic: Lines have 4 syllables each.
• Rhymed: Has a climbing rhyme where the last syllable of the first line, the third syllable of the second line, and the second syllable of the third line rhyme.

How it looks

xxxA
xxAx
xAxx

Variants and Tips

• With restricted length and rhyming scheme (if you are keeping true to the traditional three-line poem of the than-bauk), it is better to pick smaller words.
  • That is, one and two-syllable words. Choosing vowel sounds for the rhyming words will help as you can more easily find those in the middle of words .
• The brevity of the poem is both its beauty and its challenge, so try to work with the traditional tristich (three lines, four syllables each, and climbing rhyme format) for that reason
• But then again, feel free to play with the form.
  • Increase the syllabic count to more than four per line. If you make it more than six, then maybe consider adding another climbing rhyme.
  • Than-bauk chains: Some variants I have seen include a new climbing rhyme starting with the third line and/or the fourth line, creating than-bauk chains. See below for the visuals:

xxxa
xxax
xaxb
xxbx
xbxc
xxcx
xcxx

and so on

xxxa
xxax
xaxb
xxxb
xxbx
xbxc
xxxc …. and so on

h/t and additional reading for more examples:

• Bob Newman’s VoleCentral
• Wikipedia’s Thanbauk page

My Example Than-Bauk: Springing With Joy

Mark(ing) Spring
Calaveras
This place has tons
Of das(h)ing frogs!
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

A salute to Mark Twain’s Jumping Frog of Calaveras

Recently

On My Blog & at Home

My recent posts since and including my last Sunday Scribblings:

• At the Risk of Repeating Myself and Revealing More
• Words and Games that Challenge You and Books + More
• Sleeping Spells and Tips: The Wondrous Magic of Sleep
• From Page to Heart: The Magic of Rereading (or not)
• Sunday Scribblings #180: Springing Forward With Hope and Love

Have been working a little on my backyard as the weather is slowly warming. Saplings in pots need to be moved to the backyard, which means I spent the last week planning where they go and doing a lot of digging. Plus, discovered a delightful branch of one of the oldest independent book chains in the western USA – Books Inc. – in the city (San Francisco) when I had to go there to finish up some errands at the Indian consulate.

Upcoming

On My Blog & Homefront

On the home front, I am hoping all that digging and transplanting this weekend pays off as spring arrives leading me to literally spring with joy!

And for the blog, hoping to get a few posts here and then get some ready for the month long challenges in April

This Week’s Celebrations: So We Can Spring with Joy!

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)

• Literary birthdays this week of March include: March 18th celebrates John Updike’s birthdate; the 19th is Irving Wallace; Lois Lowry and Louis Sachar on the 20th of March; and Phyllis McGinley on the 21st; Billy Collins, James Patterson, and Louis L’Amour on March 22nd; Jonathan Ames on the 23rd of March; Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Muthuswami Dikshitar on March 24th
• International Read To Me Day is on the 19th!
• Followed by World Storytelling Day on the 20th of March, and this year’s theme is ‘Building Bridges’
• The 20th also happens to be Bibliomania Day. On March 20, 1990, Stephen Blumberg, aka the Book Bandit, was arrested for stealing books worth US$5.3 million (23,600 of them, and worth more than double today)
• Then, it is World Poetry Day and World Puppetry Day on the 21st of March
• The third week of March observes World Folktales & Fables Week (March 17 – 23, 2024)

Foodie Celebrations

• The week starts with National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day on the 18th
• Followed by National Chocolate Caramel Day on the 19th of March
• Then it is World Flour Day as well as National Ravioli Day on March 20th
• While March 21st observes National French Bread Day and National California Strawberry Day
• It is National Bavarian Crepes Day on the 22nd of March
• And the 23rd of March is National Chia Day, National Chip and Dip Day, National Tamale Day, and National Melba Toast Day. So much to explore for our taste buds!
• March 24th is National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day and National Cocktail Day

Other Celebrations

• March 18th is National Awkward Moments Day!
• Followed by National Let’s Laugh Day and National Backyard Day on the 19th. Which is also the beginning of spring this year!
• Then, the 20th observes happiness, a time to spring with joy, for it is International Day of Happiness. And a day to jump as well for it is National Jump Out Day and World Frog Day!
• March 21st is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,  International Day of Colour, International Day of Forests, and World Down Syndrome Day. And National Common Courtesy Day, National Countdown Day, and National Fragrance Day
• National Goof Off Day, World Water Day, and International Day of the Seal are observed on the 22nd of March.
• Followed by World Meteorological Day, National Near Miss Day, and National Puppy Day on March 23rd.
• March 24th is International Right to Truth Day

Related Reads and More

• Since it is World Frog Day as well as World Puppetry Day this week, why not make it a celebration of both with this fun Kermit Frog Puppet which includes additional items to make everyone spring with joy!! Pair it with The Green Frogs: A Korean Folktale or Kermit the Frog’s For Every Child, a Better World
• Pen down some poetry on World Poetry Day (March 21st) using this fine ink pen on this elegant customized notebook.
• These books for reading together:
  • The whole series of You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You (6 books) by Mary Ann Hoberman. This includes Very Short Stories to Read Together and Very Short Fables to Read Together (this week is folktales and fables week after all!)
• With Irish American Heritage Month as well as World Folktales and Fables week, this book from W. B. Yeats – Irish Fairy Tales and Folklore – will make a great one to read and to gift as well (see it for yourself!)

Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. And do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month? Or if you write a few fable poems, do share them with me!

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon