senryu
Cynical Japanese poem
Senryu is a Japanese poetic form identical in structure to haiku—three lines of five, seven, and five syllables—but focused on human nature rather than the natural world.
Where haiku captures seasonal moments and nature imagery, senryu tends toward irony, humor, or wry observation of human foibles: Monday morning / the coffee maker broken / I weep.
Japanese seventeen-syllable verse
- syllableUnit of pronunciation
- brevityShortness of expression
- concisenessQuality of being brief
- tankaClassical Japanese verse form
tercet · verse · stanza · meter · structure · 5-7-5 · Japanese · hokku
Meaning opposite to words
cynicism · mockery · wryness · drollery · facetiousness · sardonic · parody · jest
Homo sapiens individual
- emotionComplex psychological state
- societyOrganized communal human existence
- relationshipsLinks between individuals
- lifeAnimate state
mundane · everyday · foibles · vanity · folly · behavior · desire · aging
Adjacent contrasting placement
- wordplayVerbal wit techniques
- punchlineHumor's final delivery
- twistRotating motion or surprise
- observationAttentive watching or remark
insight · epigram · aphorism · quip · cleverness · compression · understatement · incongruity
haiku
Japanese seventeen-syllable verse
- syllableUnit of pronunciation
- brevityShortness of expression
- concisenessQuality of being brief
tanka · tercet · verse · stanza · meter · structure · 5-7-5 · Japanese · hokku
irony
Meaning opposite to words
wit · cynicism · mockery · wryness · drollery · facetiousness · sardonic · parody · jest · irreverence
human
Homo sapiens individual
- emotionComplex psychological state
- societyOrganized communal human existence
- relationshipsLinks between individuals
life · mundane · everyday · foibles · vanity · folly · behavior · desire · aging · work
juxtaposition
Adjacent contrasting placement
observation · insight · epigram · aphorism · quip · cleverness · compression · understatement · incongruity · timing
- Japanese culturesamurai, kabuki, sumo, origami, tea ceremony
- poetrypoem, poems, poetry, verse, verses
- Edo Japanshogun, samurai, shogunate, daimyo, Tokugawa
- poetry termspoetry, rhyme, verse, rhythm, meter
- Asian poetryhaiku, tanka, waka, seasonal imagery, nature imagery
- light verselimerick, doggerel, light verse, comic verse, humorous poetry
senryuepic poetry
Extended narrative in verse
epic · odyssey · long poem · narrative poem · Paradise Lost