Suppose you’re compiling a micro anthology of 22 short poems. Your goal is to represent the international tradition of great poetry as well as possible within certain constraints. Would you change anything about this list of languages and forms to choose from? Why or why not?

There must be exactly 22 poems, with each short poem in a different language.

Here are the rules. I am only selecting:

• poetry from literate cultures with reasonably well-preserved written traditions; not oral poetry

• poetry intended to cater to elite audiences; poetry whose primary purpose is aesthetic splendor and intellectual power to the highest degree; not folk poetry or poetry for didactic or devotional purposes

• poetry that functions as a preeminent mode of short-form, lyrical expression in its respective context; each poem should fit on one page.

This won't be the order they're presented in; it'll be massively scrambled.

LANGUAGES OF EUROPE

• Greek lyric poem 🇬🇷

• Latin lyric poem 🇮🇹

• Italian lyric poem 🇮🇹

• French lyric poem 🇫🇷

• Spanish lyric poem 🇪🇸

• English lyric poem 🇬🇧

• German lyric poem 🇩🇪

• Russian lyric poem 🇷🇺

LANGUAGES OF THE NEAR EAST

• Arabic ghazal 🇸🇦

• Hebrew ghazal 🇮🇱

• Persian ghazal 🇮🇷

• Turkish ghazal 🇹🇷

LANGUAGES OF INDIA

• Sanskrit muktaka 🇮🇳

• Prakrit gatha 🇮🇳

• Tamil sangam poem 🇮🇳

• Telugu padam 🇮🇳

• Urdu ghazal 🇵🇰

• Bengali lyric poem 🇧🇩

LANGUAGES OF THE FAR EAST

• Chinese ci 🇨🇳

• Japanese tanka 🇯🇵

• Korean sijo 🇰🇷

• Vietnamese đường luật 🇻🇳