Renga, Japanese form Options

[Cleo_Serapis]

The following was copied in its entirety from The American Academy of Poets website: Poets.org, National Poetry Almanac at the following URL:
http://www.poets.org/almanac....8097707

Renga
 
Renga, meaning "linked poem," began over seven hundred years ago in Japan to encourage the collaborative composition of poems. Poets worked in pairs or small groups, taking turns composing the alternating three-line and two-line stanzas. Linked together, renga were often hundreds of lines long, though the favored length was a 36 part form called a kasen. Several centuries after its inception, the opening stanza of renga gave rise to the much shorter haiku.

To create a renga, one poet writes the first stanza, which is three lines long with a total of seventeen syllables. The next poet adds the second stanza, a couplet with seven syllables per line. The third stanza repeats the structure of the first and the fourth repeats the second, alternating in this pattern until the poem’s end.

Thematic elements of renga are perhaps most crucial to the poem’s success. The language is often pastoral, incorporating words and images associated with seasons, nature, and love. In order for the poem to achieve its trajectory, each poet writes a new stanza that leaps from only the stanza preceding it. This leap advances both the thematic movement as well as maintaining the linking component.

Contemporary practitioners of renga have eased the form’s traditional structural standards, allowing poets to adjust line-length, while still offering exciting and enlightening possibilities. The form has become a popular method for teaching students to write poetry while working together.

More from Grace's research on Renga: TY!
In a renga (kasen) of 36 parts:

The length of the worms is not obligatorily 5-7-5 and 7-7, but obligatorily short, long, short.

It is divided into three parts:

- 6 parts with low divergence (OJ) or the partners seek, rather separate continuation.
- 24 parts (ha) of body with strong divergence
- 6 parts (kyu) return to the order towards an end conceived in advance.

The renga starts with a haiku (hokku). It must contain a word of season.

One alternates parts of three lines and two lines

Only the first part must be autonomous (in direction).

The second (wakku) cannot be autonomous. It must contain a word of the same season as the first.

The third must change the scene.

Around the fifth, one must refer to the moon

A reference to the love must be between 17th and 19th part

The successive parts are dependent two by two by an association, but not three successive. The renga is comparable A a voyage, one sees in front of and behind oneself but the landscape àtout moment changes.

Each couple of parts must be able to be autonomous (ab bc Cd of...)

There should not be word of season in the other parts. The seasons should not turn in opposite direction.

One cannot re-use the same topics.

A word cannot be used twice.

If one evokes spring and the autumn, it must persist between 3 and 5 parts. The summer and the winter, from 1 to 3.

The insects should be mention only once at the maximum.

A part is only in relation to its immediate neighbors.

Types of associations:

Association: milk suggests the cow
Opposition: the summer suggests snow
Pun: Late autumn suggests old man who stumbles, assembly line suggests the old web
Eccentric reaction: a tomb suggests a place of peak-NIC
Emotional: after the funerailles the rain of November suggests

Each part should have two significances, conscious and unconscious.

Significant note: The rules are to be respected as well as possible, according to prior agreement.

From The Word Shop:
A RENGA is a group of HAIKU-LIKE verses linked in any one of several special ways. It is usually written by two or more poets who take turns writing the verses.

In classical RENGA, 3-line and 2-line verses are alternated, beginning with a 3-line verse (a hokku, usually approximating 5-7-5 syllables) resembling haiku and indicating a season. A second poet composes the following verse (2 lines approximating 7-7), linking it by one of several methods with the first. The next verse (of 3 lines), composed by the first poet (in a 2-person renga) or by another (in renga written by more than 2 poets), links with the second but not with the first.

Traditionally, each verse employs a season word, especially the ones requiring reference to autumn, moon, flower, etc. Season words are words usually associated with one season more than another (blossom = spring; snow = winter; baseball = summer, harvest = autumn, etc.) Verses do not refer to moon or flower except when they are specifically called for.

Beginning capitals and ending punctuation are usually avoided. These patterns continue throughout the renga, each verse linking somehow with the verse preceding it, but with no others. Each verse may launch us in a new direction, providing the next poet with a new puzzle to solve. Once a significant noun, verb, adjective or adverb occurs, it is usually not used in another verse (though a witty switch of meaning or context might be acceptable in adjacent links). This technique keeps a renga continually twisting and turning, challenging both poet and reader.

The result is a constantly changing mosaic which discourages development of a logical, sequential narrative. The pleasures derived from continual surprise, striking imagery and delightfully sudden (and often witty) insights can be captivating. That is one of the chief delights of renga.

[Cleo_Serapis]

MHmmmmm - sounds like a good workshop form!

First stanza = 5/7/5
Second stanza = 7/7
then alternate each stanza as above....

Each poet only adds one stanza as mentioned above following the pattern outlined...

I'll start with:

Tumbling sienna
dances gracefully downward
in swirls of colorful tints

[JustDaniel]

autumn winds build compost piles
between unsuspecting walls

[Cybele]

Good morning Lori and Daniel,  :grinning:



Mind if I join in?

I noticed your syllable count for the first part was 5/7/5 Lori although you have used 5/7/7 - then I re-read you explanation and for this format at the bottom explaining there is now leeway for expansion or contraction.

Contemporary practitioners of renga have eased the form’s traditional structural standards, allowing poets to adjust line-length, while still offering exciting and enlightening possibilities

.





Tumbling sienna
dances gracefully downward
in swirls of colourful tints

autumn winds build compost piles
between unsuspecting walls

laughter fills the air
as raucous children create
bright eddies with busy feet

[JustDaniel]

Tumbling sienna
dances gracefully downward
in swirls of colourful tints

autumn winds build compost piles
between unsuspecting walls

laughter fills the air
as raucous children create
bright eddies with busy feet

industrious whistling dad
smilingly rakes in laughter

anticipatin' deLightedly, Daniel  

[Cleo_Serapis]

Very good start Daniel and Grace!    

Yes - I got confused Grace and did the 7 when I should have done 5 onji in S1.... Oops! Grace, what is a bright eddy?

Tumbling sienna
dances gracefully downward
in swirls of colorful tints

autumn winds build compost piles
between unsuspecting walls

laughter fills the air
as raucous children create
bright eddies with busy feet

industrious whistling dad
smilingly rakes in laughter

Apples are cored, milled
into hot, refreshing drink
worth sipping slowly

[JustDaniel]

Well, Mamasan, methinks that we what-the-'ell platers are allowed even more leeway than the average renegade renga-ers, doncha think?  

Very good start Daniel and Grace!    

Yes - I got confused Grace and did the 7 when I should have done 5 onji in S1.... Oops! Grace, what is a bright eddy?

Tumbling sienna
dances gracefully downward
in swirls of colorful tints

autumn winds build compost piles
between unsuspecting walls

laughter fills the air
as raucous children create
bright eddies with busy feet

industrious whistling dad
smilingly rakes in laughter

Apples are cored, milled
into hot, refreshing drink
worth sipping slowly

giggling, out-of-breath siblings
breathe down inhale two cups in minutes

[Cleo_Serapis]

Well, Mamasan, methinks that we what-the-'ell platers are allowed even more leeway than the average renegade renga-ers, doncha think?  

giggling, out-of-breath siblings
breathe down two cups in minutes

Tee hee! Of course - we like leeway!  

How about "inhale" Daniel (instead of breathe down)???

[JustDaniel]

Thanks, Mamasan!  That's exactly the word that I wanted but I was having a [How do you say brain-fart in MM-acceptible Japanese?].[I]

Now... get back in there and carefully read our Mondos in the other tile... after you add your katauta here, of course... and maybe one there too!

deLightin' in me ignorance, Daniel

[Cleo_Serapis]

Yes sir!    

Tumbling sienna
dances gracefully downward
in colorful tints

autumn winds build compost piles
between unsuspecting walls

laughter fills the air
as raucous children create
bright eddies with busy feet

industrious whistling dad
smilingly rakes in laughter

Apples are cored, milled
into hot, refreshing drinks
worth sipping slowly

giggling, out-of-breath siblings
inhale two cups in minutes

Indian corn sways
on whispers of windy knocks
at the entrance home

[Cybele]

Hi Cleo and Daniel,    

Cleo - bright eddies ( whirlpools of colour kicked up and caught by the wind. poetic license here Cleo -metaphor of ~ Flow in a circular current, normally of water)

Tumbling sienna
dances gracefully downward
in colorful tints

autumn winds build compost piles
between unsuspecting walls

laughter fills the air
as raucous children create
bright eddies with busy feet

industrious whistling dad
smilingly rakes in laughter

Apples are cored, milled
into hot, refreshing drinks
worth sipping slowly

giggling, out-of-breath siblings
inhale two cups in minutes

Indian corn sways
on whispers of windy knocks
at the entrance home

the golden autumn bauble
slides down a cerulean sky

This is very pretty.  

Love

Grace

[Cleo_Serapis]

VERY Pretty yes indeedy!!!

[Cleo_Serapis]

We should try and follow this with 36 lines ( a kasen) before beginning a new one for those who'd like to join in?     How about Autumn's Abundance for a title?

Tumbling sienna
dances gracefully downward
in colorful tints

autumn winds build compost piles
between unsuspecting walls

laughter fills the air
as raucous children create
bright eddies with busy feet

industrious whistling dad
smilingly rakes in laughter

Apples are cored, milled
into hot, refreshing drinks
worth sipping slowly

giggling, out-of-breath siblings
inhale two cups in minutes

Indian corn sways
on whispers of windy knocks
at the entrance home

the golden autumn bauble
slides down a cerulean sky

to touch a carpet
filled with emerald treasures
groomed with love and care

[Cybele]

Tumbling sienna
dances gracefully downward
in colorful tints

autumn winds build compost piles
between unsuspecting walls

laughter fills the air
as raucous children create
bright eddies with busy feet

industrious whistling dad
smilingly rakes in laughter

Apples are cored, milled
into hot, refreshing drinks
worth sipping slowly

giggling, out-of-breath siblings
inhale two cups in minutes

Indian corn sways
on whispers of windy knocks
at the entrance home

the golden autumn bauble
slides down a cerulean sky

to touch a carpet
filled with emerald treasures
groomed with love and care

in the garden a bonfire
crackles - like witches laughing!

Autumn Abundance sounds fine to me Lori.  Just one question

Renga, meaning "linked poem,"   Poets worked in pairs or small groups, taking turns composing the alternating three-line and two-line stanzas. Linked together, renga were often hundreds of lines long, though the favored length was a 36-line form called a kasen.  

I don't see how we write in three line and two line stanzas to reach a total of 36. We can achieve 35 or 37 but not 36. Or do I have that wrong?
     

Love

Grace


:

[Cleo_Serapis]

Autumn Abundance sounds fine to me Lori.  Just one question

Renga, meaning "linked poem,"   Poets worked in pairs or small groups, taking turns composing the alternating three-line and two-line stanzas. Linked together, renga were often hundreds of lines long, though the favored length was a 36-line form called a kasen.  

I don't see how we write in three line and two line stanzas to reach a total of 36. We can achieve 35 or 37 but not 36. Or do I have that wrong?
     

Love

Grace


:

LOL!~ Yes Grace how is it possible? Hmmmmm - unless we do the last stanza as 3 instead of two? Hmmmmmm - food for thought!

Hugs!
~Cleo

[JustDaniel]

are all bewitched now?
squirrels scatter... are they nuts?
mom carves face... out of her gourd?

[Cybele]

[b]

Hi Lori and Daniel,

I have found the answer to the dilemma.

Not 36 lines but 36 PARTS.

The rules which are quite complicated are as follows;  Suggest we copy them for reference?  Seems we have been doing it wrong folks.

Continue or restart? Over to you, although I feel what we have is very pretty as a poem on its own, perhaps we could just round it off and post in Homers as a joint effort and then start over?

We perhaps need to agree who will write the follow-up part with each addition to avoid confusion?  

In a renga (kasen) of 36 parts:


The length of the worms is not obligatorily 5-7-5 and 7-7, but obligatorily short, long, short.


It is divided into three parts:

- 6 parts with low divergence (OJ) or the partners seek, rather separate continuation.
- 24 parts (ha) of body with strong divergence
- 6 parts (kyu) return to the order towards an end conceived in advance.

The renga starts with a haiku (hokku). It must contain a word of season.

One alternates parts of three lines and two lines

Only the first part must be autonomous (in direction).

The second (wakku) cannot be autonomous. It must contain a word of the same season as the first.

The third must change the scene.

Around the fifth, one must refer to the moon

A reference to the love must be between 17th and 19th part

The successive parts are dependent two by two by an association, but not three successive. The renga is comparable A a voyage, one sees in front of and behind oneself but the landscape àtout moment changes.

Each couple of parts must be able to be autonomous (ab bc Cd of...)

There should not be word of season in the other parts. The seasons should not turn in opposite direction.

One cannot re-use the same topics.

A word cannot be used twice.

If one evokes spring and the autumn, it must persist between 3 and 5 parts. The summer and the winter, from 1 to 3.

The insects should be mention only once at the maximum.

A part is only in relation to its immediate neighbors.



Types of associations:

Association: milk suggests the cow
Opposition: the summer suggests snow
Pun: Late autumn suggests old man who stumbles, assembly line suggests the old web
Eccentric reaction: a tomb suggests a place of peak-NIC
Emotional: after the funerailles the rain of November suggests

Each part should have two significances, conscious and unconscious.



Significant note: The rules are to be respected as well as possible, according to prior agreement.

Love

Grace

[JustDaniel]

Yikes!  

If we're gonna learn this, I think someone needs to post an empty FRAMEWORK with a note about what each part should be...

then each successive contributor can COPY the whole and fill in the next part?

That may be cumbersome, but I don't know how we would NOT get off track otherwise, if this is the purist way to go.

Ya think?  sLightly overwhelmed, Daniel  

[Cleo_Serapis]

Yikes!

Yes - let's begin a new one then, shall we?

Thanks Grace!
HUGS!
~Cleo

[Cybele]

Hi Lori and Daniel,

Might I suggest, before we start a true Renga, we put a few finishing touches to what has becomes a lovely Autumnal piece and then post it in Homer's entitled Autumn Abundance as suggested by Lori?

It would seem such a waste to abandon this don't you think? Perhaps if we each add one more verse, the last person rounding it off ~ it will still stand alone very well as a poem if not as true Renga?  I have added my last piece. Over to you.....


 

AUTUMN'S ABUNDANCE

Tumbling sienna
dances gracefully downward
in colorful tints

autumn winds build compost piles
between unsuspecting walls

laughter fills the air
as raucous children create
bright eddies with busy feet

industrious whistling dad
smilingly rakes in laughter

Apples are cored, milled
into hot, refreshing drinks
worth sipping slowly

giggling, out-of-breath siblings
inhale two cups in minutes

Indian corn sways
on whispers of windy knocks
at the entrance home

the glorious golden bauble
slides down a cerulean sky

to touch a carpet
filled with emerald treasures
groomed with love and care

in the garden a bonfire
crackles - like witches laughing!

birds gossip loudly,
cattle graze contentedly,
and crimson hues bathe the land

Love

Grace