During the Heian period, waka (Japanese poetry) was very important in society, especially among court women. Most were written in Kana (the language used by women). Waka during this period often used the tanka style which is 5-7-5-7-7 syllables per line for a total of 31 syllables for the entire poem. The tanka form was popular among people of all social classes, but was especially popular among aristocrats and courtly people. In the courts, poems were used politically to increase one's status or in competition with a court rival. It was also commonly used as a form of courtship where one tried to win over a girl with a poem rather than with looks and appearance as in today's society. Therefore love poems were especially common during this period where lovers would send poems back and forth as a form of communication. Poetry can also be seen in many works from this period, such as in monogatari and nikki bungaku. Although many poems and stories from this period deal with love, among other things, very few of them deal with hope or end with happiness. The role that poetry played in these works was to serve as a way to express unhappiness and unfulfilled desires during the period, which could be attributed to the strong and constant rivalry in the courts. For the purposes of this article, I will only look at monogatari and nikki bungaku found during the Heian period. In monogatari we see poetry used in many stories as well as themes of love and unhappiness. Monogatari translates to “talking about things” which basically describes the storytelling of court ladies during the Heian period. Some examples of poetry in monogatari can be found in Uta monogatari Tsukuri monogatari, g...... middle of the sheet ...... anger and more sadness. Throughout the diary poems are written back and forth between the prince and Shikibu and each of them expresses unhappiness, misery, loneliness and the like. In monogatari and nikki bungaku written during the Heian period, many poems were incorporated into narrative prose to tell a story. history. There is a lack of positivity in the works and poems and almost all of them seem negative. This could be attributed to court life where there is constant rivalry, turmoil and competition among the aristocracy (the writers of the poems) Works Cited Anthology of Japanese Literature, compiled and edited by Donald Keene http://www.mnsu.edu /emuseum/ prehistory/japan/heian/heian-p.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_poetry#Waka_in_the_early_Heian_periodEncyclopedia of Japan (available through Japan Knowledge)Diary of Izumi Shikibu