2008-09-07

Renhai Reflections 7: Introduction #7

Renhai Anatomy: Theme and Linking

Blanket of velvet-gray fog — /zr
a crow pierces the silence. /vs

This middle verse not only portrays an image of nature but it also contains a number of potential themes and things that could be used for linking with other verses. I.e.:
  • Flat, Blanket-like.
  • Covering, Permeating.
  • Velvety, Soft.
  • Gray-coloured.
  • Black-coloured, Dark.
  • Fog, Mist, Rain, Steam, Cloud-like.
  • Stillness, Silence.
  • Crow, Bird, Animal.
  • Cawing, Bird call.
  • Piercing (sound), Interruption.
For the season, we had previously chosen "autumn". But although this middle verse does not have a specific reference to autumn, it can support not only autumn but also summer and spring. In some locations it could even occur in winter. The other verses will therefore have to strengthen the autumn feel in this Renhai.

After some discussion, at this point Zhanna and I decided that we liked the idea of "Permeating" and decided to write the other verses to this theme. The other verses would therefore support this theme and also reference one or more of the above objects, actions, and descriptions in their linkages.

As Zhanna wrote the first line of this middle verse, it was her turn to write the next verse.

Next: Renhai Anatomy: The Third Verse

4 comments:

Janice Thomson said...

Do you always have to create a single strong theme or can you employ two or three themes as long as they link with the starting two lines?

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

beautiful! it's amazing how words can give emotion.

John McDonald said...

lovely interweaving
john

Masago said...

Janice: You can have more than one theme, however it can be challenging as a theme must be present in all three verses. We'll talk more about this tomorrow (Sep 9). Thanks.

Andrew: Thank you... I agree!

John: Thanks.