The Burmese Than-Bauk, conventionally a witty saying or epigram, is a three line "climbing rhyme" poem. Each line has four syllables. The rhyme is on the fourth syllable of the first line, the third syllable of the second line, and the second syllable of the third line.


Examples 1 & 2 by Suzanne Honour:

Lighten Up

Turn on the lights;
don't let sights of
dark nights haunt you.
----
----

Cold

The night was cold
so I'm told when
the old man died.