Renku10 – A cloud

This poem is part of "A Winter Shower", a renku chain written, among others, by Matsuo Basho.

Jane Reichhold described how this collaborative poem was created:

"A Winter Shower" was written early in the winter of 1684. Basho was then staying in Nagayo, and some local poets, who knew his reputation in Edo, composed several renku under his guidance. In the case of "A Winter Shower", five amateur poets joined Bashoo in the making. They were a rice dealer, Tsuboi Tokoku; a lumber merchant Katoo Juugo, a textile retailer, Okada Yasui, a physician, Yamamoto Kakei, and a man named Koike Shoohei of whom little is known. They were all relatively young and still obscure.
Basho, then about forty, was clearly the leader, and his taste and inclinations pervaded the poem.

Poem by Matsuo Basho

Picture by Bill Williams