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WHC Renku Seminar
Haikuforum Seminar on "Traditional" Renku in English
Session 1: A Beginning
Paul MacNeil
Susumu-san has invited me to give the basics, to entertain questions, to demonstrate and to perhaps popularize a unique poetic form, the linked-verse renku.
I shall speak of what I know. That is: what I have been taught, what I have researched, and, inevitably, what I have concluded.
I am humbled that he has confidence in me, but please let me remind you all of how he introduced me: [as] ichijitsu-no-cho someone more experienced than others but only by one day
I make absolutely no pretense to be a Master; I shall lead and guide where necessary. There will be many who have at least visited the WHC haikuforum who have far more expertise and experience than I. I will welcome their input; I am still learning.
What's in a name?
I am using the term renku and not renga. Many English-language writers prefer one or the other, some understand them as interchangeable. A translator of ancient Chinese and Japanese poetry, Sam Hamill of the USA, quotes Confucius in the Ta Hsueh:
All wisdom is rooted in learning to call things by the right name ...
I am very thankful that Susumu has asked me not to be too technical. I can sidestep a long explanation of the two words. I have had respected teachers favoring each. Basically renga is used today to describe Japanese linked verse from before the time of Basho (d. 1694). Sogi (d. 1502) was acknowledged as the renga Master of his time. Renga was represented in the great Court collections in the 12th and 13th Centuries. A shorter form, pairs of linked verse, exists from the 9th Century. Renga used the medieval court language, and much of the subject matter alluded to Chinese literature and classical waka of Japan. It was assumed that both players and readers had a high level of sophisticated scholarship. As Basho changed the importance of single verses, hokku (now called haiku), he also transformed linked verse. He called this different style "haikai no renga". He did not invent this "new" way, but certainly popularized it's use. It used a less rarified language, more commonly understood, with more easily accessible subjects from the real world. The term "renku" was not known to Basho (he referred to haikai no renga), but is used for this today in Japan and by many in the West.
- Renku is linked verse.
- Renku is an art form.
- Renku is a game.
- Renku has rules.
- Renku is not anarchic linking.
- Renku has a flow, a pace, an overall effect.
- Renku has no narrative.
- Renku is a communal enterprise (some solo is done).
- Renku is verse by individuals.
- Renku is not serial haiku.
- Renku begins with a haiku.
- Renku makes good friends and companions.
- Renku is fun.
- Renku is habit forming.
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Renku honors tradition.
I love to write and even to read renku. I love most to write in person with a group of friends. I hope to proselytize for renku; I hope for some small success in that persuasion.
I have planned to show the group a finished short renku and to soon thereafter participate with two ladies I have invited to write a shisan renku (12 verses) for you. We hope to explain ourselves as we go. I plan on several guest "lecturers" or "interviewees" on various renku topics, and later on to show the composition of a kasen renku, 36 verses (the length popularized by Basho).
At all times please, I and we, as others join me, will welcome comment, question and friendly debate. I'll gladly give detailed citation of my sources, should anyone wish them. I have decided not to footnote everything or to quote extensively so as to be too close to the margins of copyright law. I'll paraphrase a lot and state my own summaries from sources.
A suggestion for anyone interested, and whose computer allows, is to set up a mail file folder for Renku Seminar. Some things I will refer back to -- if you wish to keep a record (all is archived too).
For those interested in some internet-available reading on renga/renku:
http://www.yukiteikei.org/poetry/renku/
http://www.ahapoetry.com/
http://www.execpc.com/~ohaus/haiklink.htm
http://www2.ori.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~dhugal/haikuhome.html
Hunt around a bit. I'll suggest other sources later.
I thank you for your attention to this first step. Another follows soon.
- Paul (MacNeil)
***
brief bio:
MacNEIL, PAUL: B. A., M. A., Amateur Naturalist, lives in Florida, USA. A widower, he is retired from retail business. Some of his images are from The Great North Woods particularly Maine and Ontario, Canada. His haiku, haibun, renku and tanka have been published variously by Modern Haiku, Acorn, Haiku Canada, and on the Internet at The Haiku Corner, The Heron's Nest, Poetry in the Light, and Reflections. He has been Editor's Choice at The Heron's Nest, and "honorably mentioned" at the Haiku North America '99 Contest. Paul's teenage daughter lets him use her computer. The yellow pads are his own.
Tue Feb 1, 2000
Originally posted to WHChaikuforum as the first essay-lesson in the Haikuforum Seminar on "Traditional Renku in English".
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