Renshi, livre ebook

Master poets Ooka Makoto, Shuntaro Tanikawa, Kim Yong-Jik were joined by Canadian Roseann O’Reilly Runte in Tokyo on a very warm August day in 1991 to compose a linked-verse poem. It was also the day the Soviet Parliament was stormed, foreshadowing the end of the Cold War. Not knowing the future, the poets chose to celebrate the lasting power of words to survive discord and violence. They believed the beauty of poetry would inspire and transcend time, national and linguistic borders. They followed an ancient Japanese poetic form called Renga and they wrote simultaneously in English, French, Japanese and Korean.
This volume includes the original recording made by the poets, artwork inspired by the poems by Sylviane de Roquebrune and music by Casey Sokol.
The Renga form dates from medieval times when poets came together at a castle to compose in the course of a single day linked verses that responded to each other, creating a poetic dialogue. We believe this to be the sole Renga ever composed completely in four languages at once.

In our world today we more than ever need poetry. This linked poem, written in Tokyo, over two days during which the world watched an uprising in the Soviet legislature that would be the beginning of the dissolution of the Soviet empire and the end to the Cold War, reminds us of the possibility for peace and beauty through international dialogue and the inspiration that derives from the intermingling of poetry, music, art and dance.

Dedication
In memoriam
Setting the stage
Foreword
The Creation of the Text
The Poem in English, French, Korean and Japanese
The Poem
Le poème
詩
시 (the poem)
The Poem as Performance
The Event and the Program
Coda
Gratitude