- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- One Prologue
- Two Renga History
- Three On the <i>Tsukubashū</i>
- Four Post-<i>Shinkokinshū</i> Waka
- Five Ancient and Middle-Period Renga
- Six The Character of the Work of the Early Masters
- Seven The Style of Ineffable Depth (<i>Yūgen</i>)
- Eight Learning and the Study of Renga
- Nine The Role of Waka in Renga Training
- Ten On Hokku
- Eleven Double Meaning in Poetry
- Twelve The Manifold Configurations of Poetry
- Thirteen The Roots of Poetry in Temporality
- Fourteen Poetic Process as a Contemplation
- Fifteen The Wisdom of Nondiscrimination
- Sixteen Right Teaching and the Individual Poet
- Seventeen The Influence of Companions in the Way
- Eighteen Poetry and the Mundane Mind
- Nineteen The Issue of Fame as Index of Poetic Value
- Twenty Poetry is an Existential Discipline
- Twenty-One Poetry Is a Self-Consuming Passion
- Twenty-Two Worldly Glory Versus Reclusive Concentration
- Twenty-Three Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations
- Twenty-Four Sitting with a Master
- Twenty-Five Constant Practice Is Decisive
- Twenty-Six Valorizing the Deviant or Obscure
- Twenty-Seven The Difficulty of Comprehending Superior Poetry
- Twenty-Eight The “Vulgar” Verse
- Twenty-Nine Plagiarism
- Thirty Excessive Straining After Effect
- Thirty-One Semantic Confusion
- Thirty-Two Incomprehensibility
- Thirty-Three The Close Link and the Distant Link
- Thirty-Four On <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i> as the Structure of the Renga Link
- Thirty-Five On <i>Rikugi</i>:
- Thirty-Six Poetry Contests and Criticism
- Thirty-Seven Marks and Grade Points in Renga
- Thirty-Eight One's True Poetry Emerges in Old Age
- Thirty-Nine The State of Renga in Our Time
- Forty About <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i>
- Forty-One The Central Place of Grace [<i>en</i>] in the Poetic Process
- Forty-Two Verses on the Moon, Flowers, and Snow
- Forty-Three The Verse of Ineffable Remoteness (<i>Yōon</i>)
- Forty-Four Renga Rules and Buddhist Precepts:
- Forty-Five Poetry and Zen Meditation, the Cosmic Body, and the True Word
- Forty-Six The Link Betwee <i>Maeku</i> and <i>Tsukeku</i>
- Forty-Seven The Nature and Goal of Criticism
- Forty-Eight Selecting Friends of the Way
- Forty-Nine The Close Link and the Distant Link
- Fifty On the Issue of the Ultimate Style
- Fifty-One Discipline in the Mind-Ground
- Fifty-Two Orthodoxy and Plurality
- Fifty-Three Reclusion
- Fifty-Four The Impartiality of Divine Response
- Fifty-Five Heredity, Social Status, and the Way
- Fifty-Six The Mark of Temporality in Talent, Training, and Fame or Obscurity
- Fifty-Seven The Difficulty of Achieving the Way:
- Fifty-Eight Mutually Supportive and Antagonistic Arts
- Fifty-Nine The Practice of Poetry in Our Time
- Sixty The Question of the True Buddha and the Ultimate Poem
- Sixty-One The Ten Virtues
- Sixty-Two Epilogue
- Appendix: Biographical Notes
- Bibliography
- Character List
- Index of First Lines
- Subject Index
On Hokku
On Hokku
To the question of whether the lofty, calm, and simple style constitutes the hokku's “fundamental form” (hontai), Shinkei replied in the negative. Although he initially conceded that such a style is indeed proper for formal collections of waka and renga, Shinkei argues that there is no one single essential hokku form. He adds that a variety of forms arise due to the particular circumstances obtaining in each session, the inevitable shifts in taste from one period to another, and the poet's desire to be novel and original. To prove his point, Shinkei cites three head poems: one each from the Heian, Kamakura, and contemporary Muromachi periods. Shinkei bases his stand regarding the multiplicity of hokku styles on its role as the only verse in the whole sequence that is required to “record” the actual event by alluding to the place or the season, for example. Ultimately, Shinkei's argument on the multiplicity of styles, or the absence of an “essential form,” draws from temporality and emptiness, two of the principles of Buddhism.
Keywords: hokku, Shinkei, head poems, Japanese poetry, style, form, temporality, emptiness, Buddhism
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- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- One Prologue
- Two Renga History
- Three On the <i>Tsukubashū</i>
- Four Post-<i>Shinkokinshū</i> Waka
- Five Ancient and Middle-Period Renga
- Six The Character of the Work of the Early Masters
- Seven The Style of Ineffable Depth (<i>Yūgen</i>)
- Eight Learning and the Study of Renga
- Nine The Role of Waka in Renga Training
- Ten On Hokku
- Eleven Double Meaning in Poetry
- Twelve The Manifold Configurations of Poetry
- Thirteen The Roots of Poetry in Temporality
- Fourteen Poetic Process as a Contemplation
- Fifteen The Wisdom of Nondiscrimination
- Sixteen Right Teaching and the Individual Poet
- Seventeen The Influence of Companions in the Way
- Eighteen Poetry and the Mundane Mind
- Nineteen The Issue of Fame as Index of Poetic Value
- Twenty Poetry is an Existential Discipline
- Twenty-One Poetry Is a Self-Consuming Passion
- Twenty-Two Worldly Glory Versus Reclusive Concentration
- Twenty-Three Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations
- Twenty-Four Sitting with a Master
- Twenty-Five Constant Practice Is Decisive
- Twenty-Six Valorizing the Deviant or Obscure
- Twenty-Seven The Difficulty of Comprehending Superior Poetry
- Twenty-Eight The “Vulgar” Verse
- Twenty-Nine Plagiarism
- Thirty Excessive Straining After Effect
- Thirty-One Semantic Confusion
- Thirty-Two Incomprehensibility
- Thirty-Three The Close Link and the Distant Link
- Thirty-Four On <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i> as the Structure of the Renga Link
- Thirty-Five On <i>Rikugi</i>:
- Thirty-Six Poetry Contests and Criticism
- Thirty-Seven Marks and Grade Points in Renga
- Thirty-Eight One's True Poetry Emerges in Old Age
- Thirty-Nine The State of Renga in Our Time
- Forty About <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i>
- Forty-One The Central Place of Grace [<i>en</i>] in the Poetic Process
- Forty-Two Verses on the Moon, Flowers, and Snow
- Forty-Three The Verse of Ineffable Remoteness (<i>Yōon</i>)
- Forty-Four Renga Rules and Buddhist Precepts:
- Forty-Five Poetry and Zen Meditation, the Cosmic Body, and the True Word
- Forty-Six The Link Betwee <i>Maeku</i> and <i>Tsukeku</i>
- Forty-Seven The Nature and Goal of Criticism
- Forty-Eight Selecting Friends of the Way
- Forty-Nine The Close Link and the Distant Link
- Fifty On the Issue of the Ultimate Style
- Fifty-One Discipline in the Mind-Ground
- Fifty-Two Orthodoxy and Plurality
- Fifty-Three Reclusion
- Fifty-Four The Impartiality of Divine Response
- Fifty-Five Heredity, Social Status, and the Way
- Fifty-Six The Mark of Temporality in Talent, Training, and Fame or Obscurity
- Fifty-Seven The Difficulty of Achieving the Way:
- Fifty-Eight Mutually Supportive and Antagonistic Arts
- Fifty-Nine The Practice of Poetry in Our Time
- Sixty The Question of the True Buddha and the Ultimate Poem
- Sixty-One The Ten Virtues
- Sixty-Two Epilogue
- Appendix: Biographical Notes
- Bibliography
- Character List
- Index of First Lines
- Subject Index
