Samurai Poetry

Senryu are not as familiar to Westerners as the more popular haiku.

- Dave Lowry

Senryu look much like haiku, but they don’t usually contain a seasonal word and they’re often more like aphorisms. They’re little bits of doggerel that often contain truths hidden in humor or quiet commentaries on the human condition.

There are several senryu that address the life and culture of the samurai class and its martial arts. It’s revealing to look at them because they give us an idea of how the samurai and their arts were perceived in their age. Given the unchanging elements of human nature, these senryu also have some intiguiting applications for today's martial artist.

THE SAMURAI IN A RAINSTORM/ NOT RUNNING TO SHELTER. 

This senryu expresses the dignity that was characteristic of the warrior class. In this beautiful word picture, we can imagine other classes, as the thunderstorm breaks overhead and starts splattering big drops, beginning to scurry, to scramble for shelter. The samurai, though, continues to walk on placidly. In Japanese, this calm, composed walk is called shizo-shizo. It isn’t arrogance. It isn’t haughtiness. It’s a kind of dignity that doesn’t crumble under circumstances.

The other end of the spectrum of samurai behavior is revealed in another senryu:

BECOMING STRONG/THE YOUNG LORD BECOMES VULGAR.