23 May 2025

The Fly

(Leaf 33) – Senryu (or, witty tom-foolery)

 

Illustration from 'Zen Mind, Beginners Mind' by Shunryu Suzuki (1970)


R.H. Blyth writes: “Senryu originated in the eighteenth century with Karai Hachiemon, 1718-90, whose pen-name was Senryū. They are more cynical and less refined than haiku, but what is more important, they lack the element of interpenetration which is the religious aspect of all haiku. […] It is after all, to some extent, a personal matter. If you emphasize the humour, it is senryu: if you look more at the poetry it is a haiku.”* – I think the fine line distinguishing between haiku and senryu can sometimes be a bit fuzzy, but I’d probably go along with that last sentence as good basis for a definition. If a short poem has a wry, self-aware or knowing quality, or if it provides a purely amusing diversion that awakens a smile, then it could be called a senryu.

 

 

The fly,

rubbing its hands and feet

– a villainous plot?

 



*R.H. Blyth, ‘Haiku, Volume One: Eastern Culture’ (Tokyo: The Hokuseido Press, 1981 [1949]), p. 198.