Cool! A friend started a Renga, and it was a blast. Wanna try one? Let me know! ( )

A thoroughly enjoyable book for those who are interested in the history and analysis of poetry. Don't confuse this book with another by the same author, "One Hundred Frogs", that is a short collection of translations of Basho's famous poem. This is a longer work of literary theory.

This book is the best and most thorough introduction to renga that I've read. The chapters don't hang together entirely -- they seem to be a collection of essays published separately, but that's fine. The best gem of this book is the large collection of alternate translations of Basho's classic frog poem. Here's my translation:

furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto

an old pond,
frog-leaping :
water's sound... ( )