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Rokku

On the Rocks

Haku Asanuma

 

  jo jo jo jo jo jo
hokku au au mn sp sp su wi
wakiku au au sp bl sp su rk wi
daisan ns ns ns ns ns ns
4 short ns ns ns ns ns ns
5 long su mn ns wi mn su mn au mn su mn
6 short ns su rk wi ns au ns
  ha ha (exp.) ha ha ha ha
7 long ns rk ns ns ns ns ns lv
8 short sp ns lv ns lv au ns lv ns lv
9 long sp bl - flo ns lv au lv au rk wi lv au
10 short ns wi au ns lv wi au
11 long ns lv wi ns rk wi lv ns ns rk
12 short wi lv ns ns ns ns ns
  ha kyu ha ha (exp.) ha (exp.) ha
13 long ns ns ns ns ns wi mn
14 short ns su ns su sp mn ns
15 long au mn ns su mn ns ns ns
16 short au ns su ns ns ns
17 long ns sp bl ns au mn au rk sp bl - flo
18 short ns rk sp ns au ns sp
  ha (exp.)   ha (exp.) kyu kyu ha (exp.)
19 long su   wi rk ns su ns rk
20 short ns   ns lv wi ns su
21 long ns lv   ns lv ns ns ns lv
22 short ns lv   au ns sp ns lv
23 long wi mn   au mn sp bl sp bl au mn
24 short wi   ns sp nssp au
  kyu   kyu     kyu
25 long ns   ns     ns
26 short ns   su     wi rk
27 long ns   ns     ns
28 short sp   ns     ns
29 long sp bl   sp bl     sp bl
30 short nssp   sp     sp
             

 

Notes


The Rokku is the most flexible of all contemporary forms of renku. An infinite number of variations are possible. The interpretations provided here are purely indicative and tend to the conservative, particularly in respect of the seasonal distributions in the development movements (ha).

The Rokku comprises a flexible number of six verse movements. The first is considered as jo in the manner of the Kasen, and the last as kyu. Accordingly moon will normally appear at position #5 in the first movement and blossom as the penultimate verse of the sequence. One movement, normally the penultimate, adopts experimental prosody.

Moon appears somewhere in the order of once every 9 to 12 verses. Blossom appears somewhere in the order of once every 15 to 18 verses, as do verses drawn from the newly introduced category of 'rock'. A pair of love verses appear approximately every 15 to 18 verses.

It is an absolute requirement of the Rokku that no instance of any topic, tone or season may occupy more than an adjacent pair of verses. The only exception to this rule is ageku: in cases where antepenultimate and penultimate verses take spring, ageku may also take spring, though the default remains non season.

ns - non season.
nssp - default non season, may be spring
bl - blossom position
bl - flo - blossom or flower
mn - moon position
lv - love position
rk - rock: this position should feature an element from the newly originated category specific to the Rokku of stone, ice or rock music. The default topic is stone. For sequences with more than one rock position a variety of these elements should be employed
ha (exp.) - experimental movement
italic - verses in italics form part of the experimental movement of ha