Beginnings and Endings
the special characteristics of some verses

A renku sequence is constructed by alternating a long verse with a short verse, with a long, etc. Renku sequences contain even numbers of stanzas. Each sequence starts with a long verse and therefore finishes with a short verse. In Japanese the generic name for a long verse is chouku. A short verse is a tanku. These Japanese names are often used in English-language texts dealing with renku.

Elsewhere in Renku Reckoner the article An Overview of Link & Shift details how the basic generative mechanism of renku is considered to operate within any trio of consecutive verses. Unsurprisingly therefore generic names also exist for the constituent parts of such a trio: the added verse is the tsukeku; the preceding verse is the maeku; and the last-but-one or leap-over verse is the uchikoshi.

As well as these generic terms, specific names are also given to a number of verses which, because of their position in a sequence, display particular characteristics. In English-language texts these verses have always been accorded their Japanese names.

The hokku is the first verse of a renku sequence; it is the font from which all else springs and unambiguously marks the season in which composition takes place. In the historic literature the hokku frequently serves as a greeting to the assembled company or a comment on the prospects for the renku session. This practice is still followed in formal circumstances, for instance where a poem is composed to mark a particular occasion, though such performative sentiments tend to be indirectly expressed.

Composition of the hokku is always considered an honour, one which traditionally would be reserved for the most practiced poet present or offered as a mark of respect to a noted guest.

The hokku is generally written as a cut verse, employing the techniques of juxtaposition and combination known in Japanese as toriawase. This essentially bipartite structure is articulated or intensified by a cutting word (kireji). Even where the hokku is written as a single topic verse, employing unified syntax, the intention is that is should be capable of appreciation as an entirely independent or stand-alone verse. The hokku is therefore the precursor of the haiku.

In many types of renku sequence, notably the Kasen and associated patterns, the opening movement, the preface (jo), is subject to certain tonal and topical restrictions. However the pre-eminence of the hokku is such that it is exempt from all restrictions and may address any mood or material it wishes.

In longer renku the relationship between hokku and wakiku is often considered as similar to that of the upper and lower sections of a tanka (kami-no-ku, shimo-no-ku) where the two parts combine to yield a single stanza. Even where the relationship is less strict the wakiku is expected to provide a sense of closure and completion. Open-ended syntax or strong external direction are therefore avoided.

In the historic literature, and in very formal contemporary circumstances, whilst the hokku is the preserve of the honoured guest, the wakiku is written by the person hosting the composition.

The word daisan means 'third topic'. Daisan is the third verse. Renku theorists point out that daisan is the first 'true' verse of a renku series in that it is the first which has both a preceding verse to which it must link and a leap-over verse from which it must shift (q.v. An Overview of Link & Shift).

Whereas hokku and wakiku might read effectively as a single unit, the function of daisan is to 'break away'. It is here that the sequence begins to unfold. Linkage between daisan and wakiku will be much more open than that between wakiku and hokku whilst tone, setting and narrative perspective can all be expected to differ markedly from the initial pair.

In Japanese renku prosody daisan almost invariably ends with a verb taking a 'te' suffix which imparts an ongoing, unfinished, sense to the action of the verb. Quite how one would replicate this technique in English is unclear, even were it desirable to do so, but it is certainly true that whereas the wakiku offers closure both sense and syntax of daisan are expected to open outwards - to be both germinal and unfinished, suggestive of multiple possibilities.

Like hokku and wakiku, daisan is considered a prestigious verse position, one for which those poets not already featured in hokku or wakiku would be expected to compete.

The closing verse of a renku sequence is the ageku, a name which implies not just an ending but also the fulfillment of anticipation; the sense therefore is not so much one of 'final' but rather that of 'finally' or 'at last'.

In classical renku the ageku always follows spring blossom and therefore takes the same season. However in recent variants spring blossom may be located elsewhere in a sequence, or be entirely absent, in which case ageku may take any season, or none.

Whatever the seasonal aspect, ageku generally has a performative function mirroring that of the hokku - this time combining elements of summary, salutation and augury. In order to have the freedom to meet these requirements it is largely exempted from the more rigorous demands and conventions that condition both content and execution of other verses of the sequence. Indeed it is not uncommon for ageku to return to some aspect of the content and/or prosody of the hokku so as to generate suggestions of circularity or synchronicity.

The composition of the ageku is, like that of the hokku, a special honour. The same poet would not be expected to figure in both, an exclusion which generally includes the wakiku, and may also extend to daisan.

The hokku is the first verse of a renku sequence and ageku is the last. But there are other beginnings and endings within most types of renku sequence.

The 'movements' or 'sides' that characterise the majority of sequences are derived from the number of sheets of paper used to record a poem. The hundred verse Hyakuin of classical renga for instance required four sheets, eight sides. The first and last sides needed space for head and footnotes, so fewer verses were recorded on them (8/14,14/14,14/14,14/8). Basho's radically shortened Kasen, at thirty six verses, required two sheets only (6/12,12/6).

Clearly the ending or the beginning of a side is a way-marker in any composition, and unsurprisingly there are particular names in Japanese for all the verses which conclude or start one. It is important to emphasise that these verse positions are in no way comparable to the hokku and wakiku proper - verses on opposing sides of a folio or movement are considered contiguous and the same considerations of cohesion and progression apply as if they were physically adjacent - nonetheless it would be very surprising indeed if poets did not tend to add a shade of completion or pause to any verse concluding a movement, or a countervailing overtone of re-launch to those verses which start a fresh side or movement.

As the article Common Types of Renku Sequence (q.v.) makes clear the particular compositional characteristics of hokku, wakiku, daisan and ageku are respected in the majority of types of renku sequence, with the caveat that social formalities regarding verse allocation are largely limited to ceremonial composition.

Very short renku sequences, notably the twelve verse Junicho, encourage a tendency to focus in on hokku and ageku whilst paying less regard to wakiku and daisan - the tangential forces at work in such sequences too easily result in every verse being a 'break away' verse.

Yet whilst these factors may be fascinating to persons who are becoming more adept at renku they pale into insignificance beside a consideration so fundamental that it cannot be stated too forcefully.

It has already been noted above that the hokku should be capable of appreciation as an entirely independent verse, that it is to all intents and purposes identical to the later haiku. Crucially though the hokku is the only stanza in a renku sequence which may usefully be considered as 'like a haiku'.

Whereas the hokku generates its resonance internally, typically through a bipartite structure, all other verses in a renku sequence generate their maximum effect due to their position in series. For this reason, whilst Japanese renku theory describes the hokku as tateku (stand alone) all other verses in a renku sequence are referred to as hiraku (linear). This does not mean that they should all employ unbroken syntax, or that they may never show a degree of internal 'turn'. But it does mean that intent and execution are always subordinate to context.

The creative tension that exists within a haiku is found between renku stanzas. No matter how expert or accomplished, the author who forgets this is likely to pen a verse that is haikurashii. The term means 'like a haiku'. It is not a compliment.