Renhai Reflections 9: Introduction #9

Renhai Anatomy: The First Verse

In this Renhai the last verse written was actually the first verse in the Renhai:

Still autumn night —
each patch of the forest,
full of darkness. /vs

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

Coffee aroma
permeates the morning air —
sudden rain... /zr

This creates a balanced alternating pattern of authors: /vs, /zr, /vs, /zr. However, this is not an essential requirement of renhai and sometimes the writers will find that after writing a renhai that it reads better having verses 1 & 3 switched around.

The theme in verse 1 above is supported by the darkness permeating the forest. The link from verse 1 to the middle verse is the concept of stillness/silence, i.e.:

• First verse: still autumn night.
• Middle verse: Silence.

And the link between verse 1 and verse 3 is morning/night, i.e.:

• First verse: autumn night.
• Middle verse: morning air.

It isn't necessary for a reader to understand the season, theme, and linking aspects of Renhai but these elements pull the three stand-alone haiku into a intuitive, unified whole.

Here is the associated worksheet for this renhai:
http://tinyurl.com/677fv6

One last note about Renhai is that, like Rengay, the verses show a linked series of stand-alone haiku which all reference a common theme. There is no need for them to be narrative, although writers are free to do so.

Next: Another Renhai Example