Getting Started

Good Friends:

Some people have asked me how to get started in renga. The form seems complex. There's a lot one needs to know to write a renga, including topics, linneation, seasonal placements, linking, shifting, etc. This can be intimidating.

So here's a suggestion: start with the shortest form of linked verse. It is called Tan Renga, and it consists of only two verses. The first verse is the three line 5-7-5, followed by the second verse of 7-7 syllables. There are numerous examples of tan renga in Japanese literature, including passages from the "Tale of Genji" and here and there in Basho's travel literature.

If you have a friend who is interested you can get started right away. One of you writes the opening verse, and the other writes the response. You can trade back and forth.

If you do not have a friend interested in renga, you can still practice this form by adding a short verse to your favorite haiku. I do this often, adding a 7-7 verse to a haiku of 5-7-5. The idea here is to let the haiku poet take the lead and then respond to the haiku image with a link.

There has also developed in Japan an approach for more than two people to this style of tan renga. If you know several people who are interested, one of you writes the opening verse, and then the rest of you write a response. Then compare the responses. It can be fascinating to see what different people come up with in responding to the same verse. This approached developed into a contest called "maekuzuke", in which all the responses would be returned to the poet who wrote the opening verse and that poet would then pick a "winner" from all the submissions. I know of one online location which continues this tradition. It's at www.ahapoetry.com, go to the poetry forum, and one of the sections is devoted to maekuzuke.

Tan renga is an excellent way to begin to developed a feel for linking. Once you have started this, and have a feeling for it, I would suggest adding one more element. See if you can link to the opening verse in such a way that you produce a verse focussed on one of the central topics of a renga. For example, if you are given an opening verse, try to link in such a way that the image becomes specifically seasonal (e.g. fall, summer, etc.), or specifically a love verse, or a moon verse, etc. This will offer you the opportunity to experience how a renga poet places specific topics in the ongoing flow of a renga.

Enjoy,

Jim