Tibetan Verse

[Tinker]

Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry 

Tibetan Verse is called "snyan-ngag" (ornamental language) implying ornaments of rhetoric and phonics. Metaphor and simile are common but rhyme is rarely employed. Like in most cultures, the poetry is delineated by folk or literary compositions. While all Tibetan poetry is syllabic, folk verse is usually written in 6 syllables or less while the literary compositions carry longer lines.

                           The Self Sufficient Black Lady
                                          by Yeshe Tsogyel (8th century Tibet)
                                              English version by Tarthang Tulku
                           Listen, faithful Tibetans!
                           I am merging with the fundamental, the ground of all that is---
                           physical pain and suffering are disappearing....

                          The son, the inner elements of my body,
                           is reuniting with the mother, the outer elements.
                           Her physical remains will disappear into earth and stone.

                          The compassion of the Guru has never left me;
                          his manifestations fill all the world and call out to welcome me.
                          This wild lady has done everything;

                          Many times have I come and gone, but now, no longer.
                          I am a Tibetan wife sent back to her family.
                          I shall now appear as the Queen, the All-good, the Dharmakaya.

                          This self-sufficient black lady
                          has shaken things up far and wide
                          now the shaking will carry me away into the southwest.

                          I have finished with intrigues,
                          with the fervent cascades of schemes and deceptions;
                          I am winding my way into the expanse of the Dharma.

                         I have mourned many men of Tibet who have left me behind---
                         but now I am the one who will go to the land of the Buddhas.

Here are a couple of verse forms I have been able to decipher from my research:
Cho-ga
Gzha
Mgur