Death Poems
Translation and notes:
Dan Bornstein
Dan Bornstein
> About Japanese Death Poems
The Japanese tradition of writing death poems (jisei 辞世) has a long history. It is most characteristically associated with the turbulent period of medieval civil wars, during which it became a widespread custom, but examples of it were recorded in much earlier times. Traditional death poems were composed in the waka format (5-7-5-7-7 syllables). After the much more recent development of haiku, poets in this genre have generally preferred it for writing their death poems (that is, in a 5-7-5 syllable structure).
The term "death poem" covers two types of text. It can refer to a poem written specifically as a farewell message just before death, or more broadly, poems written at an earlier time, when the author senses that death is drawing near. Some death poems only become so in hindsight, when a poem that contains some foreboding of death turns out to have been a person's last piece of poetry. Naturally, the first, more strictly defined type is limited to cases where the author faces some sort of predetermined death—usually in the form of ritual suicide or execution. In more peaceful circumstances, a death poem can be less of a dramatic declaration of the author's feelings and more of a calm reflection on death. The poems collected in this book belong to both types of death poems.
The relationship between a death poem and its author is often a point of contention or confusion. For obvious reasons, a death poem depends on the mediation of someone other than the author to reach a wide audience; the author cannot confirm or deny the authenticity of his own poem, and cannot say "No, that was just a regular poem; this one is my real death poem". Because of this, there are cases where several poems are each claimed to be the authentic death poem of a person, to the exclusion of all the others; and in fact, some people did leave several death poems, which were written together just before death or separately over a longer period. Therefore, rather than "the" death poem of someone, it is sometimes more accurate (or at least safer) to speak of "a" death poem by him.
The poems in this book were written in different periods of Japanese history, and are arranged chronologically according to the time of the author's death. This gives you a glimpse into various approaches to the tradition of death poetry as it developed over time. Biographical information about each author is supplied in the notes.
A note regarding spelling: Japanese orthography has changed considerably throughout the ages, and in modern publications, historical texts can and are rendered in widely divergent ways. Here the original Japanese poems are presented in the way that modern Japanese readers are most likely to encounter them: written according to what is known as "historical kana conventions" but with the modern standard kanji forms.
It should be kept in mind that while Japanese is heavily dependent on visual messages, even in this language it is the sound of the poem that matters the most. The written version is supposed to enable the reader to pronounce the words and understand their meanings, with any other information having an important but secondary role.
This is why the Japanese have a rather relaxed attitude toward how a historical poem is represented in writing: all of the possible written variations are ultimately representations of one and the same poem. As described in the introduction below, the romanized transliteration shows you the actual sounds of the poem, so that you can always know the essence that hides under the orthographic chaos of written Japanese.
The Japanese tradition of writing death poems (jisei 辞世) has a long history. It is most characteristically associated with the turbulent period of medieval civil wars, during which it became a widespread custom, but examples of it were recorded in much earlier times. Traditional death poems were composed in the waka format (5-7-5-7-7 syllables). After the much more recent development of haiku, poets in this genre have generally preferred it for writing their death poems (that is, in a 5-7-5 syllable structure).
The term "death poem" covers two types of text. It can refer to a poem written specifically as a farewell message just before death, or more broadly, poems written at an earlier time, when the author senses that death is drawing near. Some death poems only become so in hindsight, when a poem that contains some foreboding of death turns out to have been a person's last piece of poetry. Naturally, the first, more strictly defined type is limited to cases where the author faces some sort of predetermined death—usually in the form of ritual suicide or execution. In more peaceful circumstances, a death poem can be less of a dramatic declaration of the author's feelings and more of a calm reflection on death. The poems collected in this book belong to both types of death poems.
The relationship between a death poem and its author is often a point of contention or confusion. For obvious reasons, a death poem depends on the mediation of someone other than the author to reach a wide audience; the author cannot confirm or deny the authenticity of his own poem, and cannot say "No, that was just a regular poem; this one is my real death poem". Because of this, there are cases where several poems are each claimed to be the authentic death poem of a person, to the exclusion of all the others; and in fact, some people did leave several death poems, which were written together just before death or separately over a longer period. Therefore, rather than "the" death poem of someone, it is sometimes more accurate (or at least safer) to speak of "a" death poem by him.
The poems in this book were written in different periods of Japanese history, and are arranged chronologically according to the time of the author's death. This gives you a glimpse into various approaches to the tradition of death poetry as it developed over time. Biographical information about each author is supplied in the notes.
A note regarding spelling: Japanese orthography has changed considerably throughout the ages, and in modern publications, historical texts can and are rendered in widely divergent ways. Here the original Japanese poems are presented in the way that modern Japanese readers are most likely to encounter them: written according to what is known as "historical kana conventions" but with the modern standard kanji forms.
It should be kept in mind that while Japanese is heavily dependent on visual messages, even in this language it is the sound of the poem that matters the most. The written version is supposed to enable the reader to pronounce the words and understand their meanings, with any other information having an important but secondary role.
This is why the Japanese have a rather relaxed attitude toward how a historical poem is represented in writing: all of the possible written variations are ultimately representations of one and the same poem. As described in the introduction below, the romanized transliteration shows you the actual sounds of the poem, so that you can always know the essence that hides under the orthographic chaos of written Japanese.
> Bilingual text
(1)
Author:
Ariwara no Narihira (在原業平)
つひに行く道とはかねて聞きしかど昨日今日とは思はざりしを
tsui ni yuku / michi to wa kanete / kikishikado / kinō kyō to wa / omowazarishi o
Analysis
Ultimately [adverb] go / road [quotation] [contrast] before / heard although / yesterday today [quotation] [contrast] / did not think [exclamation]
Translation
This is the road down which I must ultimately go—I have indeed heard that before; but alas, I did not expect it to happen today of all days.
Notes
(2)
Author:
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉)
露と落ち露と消えにし我が身かな難波のことは夢のまた夢
tsuyu to ochi / tsuyu to kienishi / waga mi kana / naniwa no koto wa / yume no mata yume
Analysis
Dew [as] fall / dew [as] vanish [completion] [past] / I [possessive] self [CW] / Naniwa [possessive] things [topic] / dream [possessive] again dream
Translation
As dew it fell and as dew it vanished—my transitory self; and what happened in Naniwa was all a dream inside a dream.
Notes
(3)
Author:
Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康)
先に行くあとに残るも同じこと連れて行けぬをわかれぞと思ふ
saki ni yuku / ato ni nokoru mo / onaji koto / tsurete yukenu o / wakare zo to omou
Analysis
Ahead [destination] go / behind remain even / identical thing / take-with-me-away [cannot] [direct object -or- conjunction of reason] / separation [emphasis] [thought content] think
Translation
Whether going ahead or staying behind, it is all the same; I am unable to take you with me, so it seems that this is where we must part.
Notes
(4)
Author:
Date Masamune (伊達政宗)
曇りなき心の月をさきだてて浮世の闇を照らしてぞ行く
kumori naki / kokoro no tsuki o / sakidatete / ukiyo no yami o / terashite zo yuku
Analysis
Cloudiness-absent / heart [possessive] moon [direct object] / let-go-ahead / sorrowful-world [possessive] darkness [direct object] / illuminate [emphasis] go
Translation
The cloudless moon of my mind is my guide, casting light on the darkness of this sorrowful world as I set out on my journey.
Notes
(5)
Author:
Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉)
旅に病んで夢は枯野をかけ廻る
tabi ni yande / yume wa kareno o / kakemawaru
Analysis
Journey in fallen-ill / dream [topic] desolate fields in / running about
Translation
Fallen ill on a journey; in my dream I was in desolate fields, running about.
Notes
(6)
Author:
Ōishi Kuranosuke (大石内蔵助)
極楽の道はひとすぢ君ともに阿弥陀をそへて四十八人
gokuraku no / michi wa hitosuji / kimi tomo ni / amida o soete / shijūhachi nin
Analysis
Heaven [possessive] / road [topic] single-minded / master together / Amida [direct object] adding / forty eight persons
Translation
Single-minded down the straight road to heaven; together with you, my lord, and counting Amida Buddha—we are forty-eight.
Notes
(7)
Author:
Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎)
人魂で行く気散じや夏野原
hitodama de / yuku kisanji ya / natsunohara
Analysis
Person-spirit [capacity] / go diversion [CW] / summer-fields
Translation
Going on a stroll—but this time as a ghost; fields in summertime.
Notes
(8)
Author:
Nogi Maresuke (乃木希典)
うつし世を神去りましゝ大君のみあと志たひて我はゆくなり
utsushiyo o / kami sarimashishi / ōkimi no / miato shitaite / ware wa yuku nari
Analysis
Present-world [direct object] / deity left / grand-lord [possessive] / noble-steps yearning / I [topic] go it-is
Translation
This deity, our grand lord, has departed from the world of the living; yearning to follow in his noble steps, I am now setting out on my journey.
Notes
(9)
Author:
Nogi Shizuko (乃木静子)
出でましてかへります日のなしと聞くけふの御幸に逢ふぞかなしき
idemashite / kaerimasu hi no / nashi to kiku / kyō no miyuki ni / au zo kanashiki
Analysis
Coming out / returning sun [subject] / absent [quotation] hear / today [possessive] noble-departure [indirect object] / meet [emphasis] sad
Translation
The sun, ever rising and setting, is no more—so we all heard today; how sad it was to attend that grand departure.
Notes
(10)
Author:
Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (芥川竜之介)
水洟や鼻の先だけ暮れ残る
mizubana ya / hana no saki dake / kurenokoru
Analysis
Water-nose [CW] / nose [possessive] tip only / getting-dark-linger
Translation
The tip of my runny nose; the only thing still lit after nightfall.
Notes
(1)
Author:
Ariwara no Narihira (在原業平)
つひに行く道とはかねて聞きしかど昨日今日とは思はざりしを
tsui ni yuku / michi to wa kanete / kikishikado / kinō kyō to wa / omowazarishi o
Analysis
Ultimately [adverb] go / road [quotation] [contrast] before / heard although / yesterday today [quotation] [contrast] / did not think [exclamation]
Translation
This is the road down which I must ultimately go—I have indeed heard that before; but alas, I did not expect it to happen today of all days.
Notes
- Ariwara no Narihira (825–880): A court official in the Heian period and one of the most celebrated poets in the history of Japan. He belongs to the so-called Six Poetic Immortals (rokkasen 六歌仙). This poem is recorded in the waka collection Kokinshū as poem no. 861.
- tsui ni yuku michi: Literally "an eventually-go-road". Expresses the inevitability of death.
- to wa...to wa: This repeated expression marks contrast between different quoted statement. "A is one thing, but when it comes to B..."
- kinō kyō: Literally "yesterday-today". This is often used as a single expression meaning "recently, these days, nowadays", but here the two words seem to retain their literal force, with the nuance of "a specific day in the present, such as yesterday or today".
- o: An exclamatory final particle that expresses sorrow, regret, etc.
(2)
Author:
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉)
露と落ち露と消えにし我が身かな難波のことは夢のまた夢
tsuyu to ochi / tsuyu to kienishi / waga mi kana / naniwa no koto wa / yume no mata yume
Analysis
Dew [as] fall / dew [as] vanish [completion] [past] / I [possessive] self [CW] / Naniwa [possessive] things [topic] / dream [possessive] again dream
Translation
As dew it fell and as dew it vanished—my transitory self; and what happened in Naniwa was all a dream inside a dream.
Notes
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537 [or 1536]–1598) was a military ruler of Japan in the late Warring States period. In this position he succeeded Oda Nobunaga, a general who succeeded in unifying much of the country under his rule (Oda was assassinated in 1582, and there is no death poem attributed to him). These two centralized regimes were the precursors of the Tokugawa Shogunate (more information under Tokugawa Ieyasu's poem below).
- tsuyu: Dew is a common Japanese Buddhist metaphor for the transience of the material world and of human life.
- to: This particle signifies a capacity or role: "as", "in the capacity of".
- waga mi: Literally "my self" or "my body".
- naniwa: The old name of Osaka. Toyotomi initiated the construction of Osaka Castle as the stronghold of his clan, and lived to see the work completed. After his death, his son Hideyori inherited his position as supreme ruler, but later, a war broke out between several powerful clans. General Tokugawa Ieyasu, who ruled Edo (modern Tokyo), finally had the upper hand. The Tokugawa campaign culminated with the Osaka Siege (Ōsaka no jin 大坂の陣) in which Osaka Castle was destroyed and the Toyotomi clan was defeated. The castle was later rebuilt in a different form by Tokugawa.
- yume no mata yume: Literally "a dream's more-dream", i.e., a dream inside a dream, something completely unreal. Toyotomi looks back on his turbulent and eventful life and concludes that it was all in vain, as he is now about to pass from this world.
(3)
Author:
Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康)
先に行くあとに残るも同じこと連れて行けぬをわかれぞと思ふ
saki ni yuku / ato ni nokoru mo / onaji koto / tsurete yukenu o / wakare zo to omou
Analysis
Ahead [destination] go / behind remain even / identical thing / take-with-me-away [cannot] [direct object -or- conjunction of reason] / separation [emphasis] [thought content] think
Translation
Whether going ahead or staying behind, it is all the same; I am unable to take you with me, so it seems that this is where we must part.
Notes
- Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616) was the founder and first supreme commander and ruler (shōgun 将軍) of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the hereditary military regime that ruled Japan uninterruptedly until 1868.
- saki ni yuku: Refers to Tokugawa himself, who is going toward his death.
- ato ni nokoru: Those staying behind are Tokugawa's companions, followers, etc.
- mo: An abbreviated construction that covers both of the above phrases, and is understood as if there were another mo attached to the first phrase.
- onaji koto: Staying alive is the same as dying, since no one can escape death anyway. An expression of the Buddhist concept of impermanence (mujō 無常).
- o: This can be either a direct object marker or a conjunction of reason ("since", "as"). In the former case, the preceding phrase becomes the content of the final verb "think", while in the latter case, the preceding phrase is the rationale for the thought. Regardless of which interpretation is chosen, the meaning ends up being practically identical.
(4)
Author:
Date Masamune (伊達政宗)
曇りなき心の月をさきだてて浮世の闇を照らしてぞ行く
kumori naki / kokoro no tsuki o / sakidatete / ukiyo no yami o / terashite zo yuku
Analysis
Cloudiness-absent / heart [possessive] moon [direct object] / let-go-ahead / sorrowful-world [possessive] darkness [direct object] / illuminate [emphasis] go
Translation
The cloudless moon of my mind is my guide, casting light on the darkness of this sorrowful world as I set out on my journey.
Notes
- Date Masamune (1567–1636) was a powerful clan chief and regional warlord (daimyō 大名) in what is today the Tohoku (northeastern Honshu). He lived during the Warring States and early Tokugawa periods.
- kokoro no tsuki: The "moon of the mind" is a metaphor for an awakened mind, one that has seen true reality and has become free of attachment to this world. This word is a native Japanese rendering of the borrowed Chinese Buddhist term 心月 (shingetsu).
- sakidatete: Literally "putting [something or someone] ahead [of oneself]". In this case it means to put the awakened mind before you as a guide, i.e., to follow that mind on the way out of this world.
- ukiyo: The transitory, sorrowful world we live in. This word is a synthesis of two identically pronounced words: the native Japanese Buddhist term ukiyo, "sorrowful world", which is written 憂世 (sorrowful + world); and the borrowed Chinese word 浮世 (floating + world), which means "transitory world" and is originally pronounced fusei. The native Japanese noun for "floating" is uki, and this resulted in pronouncing the second word identically to the first. This double meaning informs the various usages of the word, including in the name of the ukiyo-e genre of woodblock prints, which is commonly translated as Pictures of the Floating World.
- yami: Can be interpreted as referring either to the inherent darkness that commonly defines the transitory world in Japanese Buddhist perception; or more specifically, to the turmoil and violence that Date had personally seen during the Warring States period.
(5)
Author:
Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉)
旅に病んで夢は枯野をかけ廻る
tabi ni yande / yume wa kareno o / kakemawaru
Analysis
Journey in fallen-ill / dream [topic] desolate fields in / running about
Translation
Fallen ill on a journey; in my dream I was in desolate fields, running about.
Notes
- Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) is considered the greatest master of haiku poetry. He spent much of his time traveling throughout Japan and participating in poetry gatherings with his disciples. Bashō fell ill while on a journey from his hometown, Iga (now in Mie Prefecture), to Osaka, but did not leave a formal death poem. This is his last poem, recorded under the heading "composed during sickness" (byōchūgin 病中吟).
- yume wa: The wa marks the dream as the situation in which the following action took place. The subject (the doer of the action) is the poet himself.
- kareno: A haiku season word associated with the winter. Bashō's sickness and death occurred in late November (according to the Gregorian calendar).
(6)
Author:
Ōishi Kuranosuke (大石内蔵助)
極楽の道はひとすぢ君ともに阿弥陀をそへて四十八人
gokuraku no / michi wa hitosuji / kimi tomo ni / amida o soete / shijūhachi nin
Analysis
Heaven [possessive] / road [topic] single-minded / master together / Amida [direct object] adding / forty eight persons
Translation
Single-minded down the straight road to heaven; together with you, my lord, and counting Amida Buddha—we are forty-eight.
Notes
- Ōishi Kuranosuke (1659–1703, real name: Ōishi Yoshio) was the leader of the famous Forty-seven Rōnin (leaderless warriors), a group of samurai who avenged the death of their feudal lord, Asano Naganori, in what is known as the Ako Incident (akō jiken 赤穂事件). Lord Asano was forced to commit ritual suicide after trying to kill a court official, Kira Yoshinaka, who insulted him. The group later assassinated Kira in a meticulously executed operation, after which they were themselves forced to commit ritual suicide (after originally sentenced to dishonorable death by execution like common criminals).
- gokuraku: Heaven, in the Buddhist sense of being reincarnated in a different, more favorable plane of reality. Since Amida Buddha is mentioned here, this term should be interpreted as referring to the Pure Land, the ideal land presided over by this Buddha. The Pure Land has traditionally been the most sought-after destination where Japanese Buddhists wish to be reborn after death.
- hitosuji: Means both "a stretch" (of road) and "single-minded, completely devoted" (to someone, in this case the feudal lord).
- amida: Amida Buddha, the most revered Buddha in Japan. Amida (a Japanese rendering of the Indian name Amitābha, which means "infinite light") is considered a savior who leads people to enlightenment and release from worldly suffering. He does this by the power his vow to use his spiritual merit for the sake of saving others. Believing in Amida and his vows (see more below) is considered to ensure rebirth in his Pure Land and salvation from the endless cycle of reincarnation (samsara).
- shijūhachi nin: Taking the 47 rōnin together with lord Asano and Amida Buddha would give the number 49. However, the actual number of rōnin who committed ritual suicide following the incident was 46, and this is the figure that Ōishi bases his poem on (46 samurai + lord Asano + Amida = 48). Although 47 men were involved in the conspiracy and actual attack on Kira, one of them (Terasaka Kichiemon) disappeared immediately after the assassination. The common theory is that he was sent as a messenger to make the events publicly known, but it is also claimed that he fled to save his own life. He was in fact pardoned later by the Shogun and lived to an old age. After his death he was buried in the cemetery of Sengakuji Temple in Edo (modern Tokyo), alongside the other 46 samurai and lord Asano.
- The importance of the number 48 in this context goes beyond a simple headcount. When Amida was still a boddhisattva (a person intent on practicing meritorious deeds in order to become a Buddha), he is said to have made 48 vows that detail how we would use his Buddhahood to save humans who were unable to attain Buddhahood on their own (and according to Pure Land theology no human nowadays is capable of it, hence the necessity of relying on Amida). His most important vow, no. 17, is the one that ensures rebirth in the Pure Land to anyone who has single-minded faith in him. When Ōishi mentions single-mindedness, heaven, Amida and the number 48 in the same poem, he is in effect expressing his wish that the 46 samurai and their lord will reunite in the Pure Land under the grace of Amida.
(7)
Author:
Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎)
人魂で行く気散じや夏野原
hitodama de / yuku kisanji ya / natsunohara
Analysis
Person-spirit [capacity] / go diversion [CW] / summer-fields
Translation
Going on a stroll—but this time as a ghost; fields in summertime.
Notes
- Katsushika Hiroshige (1760–1849) was one of the most prominent artists in the Ukiyo-e genre of Japanese woodblock printing. Among his many famous works, he is particularly well-known around the world for his series 36 Views of Mount Fuji.
- hitodama: A floating ball of fire or a similar mysterious light that represents the spirit of a deceased person. In Japanese folklore, this equivalent for a ghost leaves the body at the time of death and is able to interact with the living.
- kisanji: Literally "diversion", something enjoyable that you do to relieve boredom. In this context it means floating around peacefully in the air above the fields, as a sort of stroll.
- natsunohara: A compound made of natsu "summer" and nohara "plains, fields". Katsushika died in May 10, and was probably thinking of the coming summer that he would not be able to see.
(8)
Author:
Nogi Maresuke (乃木希典)
うつし世を神去りましゝ大君のみあと志たひて我はゆくなり
utsushiyo o / kami sarimashishi / ōkimi no / miato shitaite / ware wa yuku nari
Analysis
Present-world [direct object] / deity left / grand-lord [possessive] / noble-steps yearning / I [topic] go it-is
Translation
This deity, our grand lord, has departed from the world of the living; yearning to follow in his noble steps, I am now setting out on my journey.
Notes
- Nogi Maresuke (1849–1912) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He gained fame as a hero of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5). He was fiercely loyal to Emperor Meiji, and committed ritual suicide together with his wife Shizuko (see her own poem later) on September 13, 1912, the day of the emperor's funeral. He is thought to have done so for two reasons: to atone for what he perceived as his past military failures, and out of his desire not to outlive his master. This was the first known instance in modern times of performing junshi (殉死, following one's master to the grave), a medieval practice among the samurai that had been officially banned in 1663 by the Tokugawa Shogunate and not openly performed since then.
- utsushiyo: The present, tangible world that we live in right now. A concept inspired by Buddhism, this word refers to one of the three temporal worlds or states of existence in Buddhist thought: the past, the present, and the future.
- kami: The Emperor had a divine status because the imperial lineage is traditionally descended from the Sun Deity, Amaterasu (Amaterasu Ōmikami 天照大神). Despite the common perception in the West, this did not mean that the emperors were considered deities themselves. In addition, it is important to remember that the concept of kami is quite different from what we associate with terms such as god or deity; it is more accurately described as spiritual elements, both natural and supernatural, that encompass many types of phenomena.
- sarimashishi: An honorific verb is used here to represent the Emperor's passing away.
- ōkimi: An honorific expression that was conventionally used to refer to the emperor of Japan in older times.
- miato: A compound of mi "noble, august" and ato, which literally means "after, behind" and also has the sense of "footsteps, marks left behind". The word ato is used in numerous set phrases that have to do with following someone's example.
- shitaite: The verb shitau means both "yearn, long for" and "follow" (someone with whom you not want to part). The spelling here is notable, because Nogi used the unrelated kanji 志 to write this word instead of the verb's usual kanji, 慕. The meanings associated with the character 志 are "ambition", "aspiration", "aim", "goal", etc., and they are relevant to the context of this poem. It is also possible that 志 was used merely for its sound, shi, since it could also function in old Japanese as a phonetic character for this sound. But in this case it was most probably used consciously to add special nuance to the word shitaite.
(9)
Author:
Nogi Shizuko (乃木静子)
出でましてかへります日のなしと聞くけふの御幸に逢ふぞかなしき
idemashite / kaerimasu hi no / nashi to kiku / kyō no miyuki ni / au zo kanashiki
Analysis
Coming out / returning sun [subject] / absent [quotation] hear / today [possessive] noble-departure [indirect object] / meet [emphasis] sad
Translation
The sun, ever rising and setting, is no more—so we all heard today; how sad it was to attend that grand departure.
Notes
- Nogi Shizuko (1859–1912) joined her husband, General Nogi Maresuke, in committing ritual suicide on the day of Emperor Meiji's funeral. It is thought that Shizuko killed herself first and was followed by Maresuke.
- idemashite: Honorific verb, because it refers to an action performed by the emperor.
- hi: The poem likens the sun's daily movement in the sky to the presence of the emperor in the life of the nation. As explained above in the notes to General Nogi's poem, the emperors of Japan are considered descendants of the Sun Deity.
- miyuki: An honorific term for an emperor's departure from the palace. Here the departure is the funeral; the analogy to the sun adds the idea of eternal darkness that engulfs the world, never to be dispelled by the sun again.
(10)
Author:
Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (芥川竜之介)
水洟や鼻の先だけ暮れ残る
mizubana ya / hana no saki dake / kurenokoru
Analysis
Water-nose [CW] / nose [possessive] tip only / getting-dark-linger
Translation
The tip of my runny nose; the only thing still lit after nightfall.
Notes
- Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (1872–1927) was a poet, novelist and writer of short stories. Outside Japan he is widely known for stories such as Rashōmon, but he was also a prolific writer of haiku and other genres of poetry. He wrote this poem just before his suicide at the age of 35; it was found on a sheet of paper with the heading "self-mockery" (jichō 自嘲). Adding a heading or an introduction to explain the circumstances of writing the poem is a traditional custom in Japanese poetry.
- mizubana: Runny nose. Literally "water-nose". Also pronounced, more colloquially, as mizuppana. Recognized as a haiku season word associated with the winter. However, the suicide took place in the summer, on July 24.
- kurenokoru: Literally "to be behind in darkening", to darken late. Refers to the sky still being brightly lit after the sun itself has set, or to things on the ground that still appear lit at that time (because of light being reflected from the sky).