Senryū (川 柳 , literally 'river willow') is a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku in construction: three lines with 17 or fewer syllables in total. However, senryū tend to be about human foibles while haiku tend to be about nature, and senryū are often cynical or darkly humorous while haiku are serious. Senryū do not need to include a kigo, or season word, like haiku.

The form is named after Edo era haiku poet Senryū Karai (柄井川柳, 1765-1838), whose collection Ifūyanagidaru (誹風柳多留) launched the genre (and hence his name) into the public consciousness. A typical example from the collection:

泥棒を dorobō wo

捕えてみれば toraete mireba

我が子なり wagako nari

The robber,

if I catch,

my own son

Some senryu skirt the line between haiku and senryu. The following senryu by Shūji Terayama copies the haiku structure faithfully, down to a blatantly obvious kigo, but on closer inspection is absurd in its content:

かくれんぼ kakurenbo

三つ数えて mittsu kazoete

冬になる fuyu ni naru

Hide and seek

Count to three

Winter comes

Much modern haiku is more similar to senryu than to traditional Japanese haiku. Most English haiku and senryū poets no longer adhere to the 5-7-5 syllable form, which is suitable for the Japanese language, but which may lead English poets to produce over-long and sometimes stilted poems. Many modern haijin (haiku/senryu poets) use the "one deep breath" rule: take a deep breath and you should be able to read the poem aloud.

External links

• Senryu Entry Page: Definitions, Pronunciation, Examples, Links
• A Call for the Complete Elimination of Joke Haiku Production on the Internet
• 'A Brief Survey of Senryû by Women' by Hiroaki Sato
• some samples from 'Senryu Magazine' by Alan Pizzarelli from Long Shot Volume 25

References

• Makoto Ueda, Light Verse from the Floating World: An Anthology of Premodern Japanese Senryu, Columbia University Press © 1999 ISBN 0-231-11550-4 cloth ISBN 0-231-11551-2 pbk [273 pp. 400 senryu]