death poem

A death poem is a poem written near the time of one's own death. It is a tradition for literate persons to write one in a number of different cultures, especially in Japan. The poem should be graceful, natural, and about neutral emotions adhering to the teachings of Buddhism and Shinto (and possibly Christianity). It should not mention that the fact you are about to die directly but one can use negative notions like a sunset or falling sakura or cherry blossom to suggest an inevitable death (see kigo for more on the importance of sakura in Japanese poetry). As a once-in-a-lifetime event, it was common to converse with respected poets before, and sometimes well in advance of, a death to help finish writing a poem. As the time passes, changes take place in a person's life and the poem could often be rewritten. This rewriting was almost always not mentioned to keep from tarnishing the deceased person's legacy. Writing death poems is done by both Chinese and Japanese Zen monks (writing either waka or haiku), and by many haiku poets, as well as those cultured enough to think of writing one. It was also an ancient custom in Japan for literate persons to compose a jisei (or death verse) on their death-bed. For examples of death poems, see the articles on the famous haiku poet Basho, the Japanese Buddhist monk Ryokan, Ota Dokan (builder of Edo Castle), and the Japanese woodblock master Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. A death poem sometimes took on an aspect of a will, reconciling differences between persons. In a full ceremonial seppuku (Japanese ritual suicide) one of the elements of the ritual is the writing of a death poem (辞世の句: jisei no ku). The poem is written in the waka style (five units long which are usually composed of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables). Asano, a samurai, is said to have written a particularly bad death poem which showed the immaturity and lack of character that led to him being ordered to commit seppuku in the first place.

References

Yoel Hoffmann, 'Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death', Charles E. Tuttle Company 1986 ISBN 0-8048-1505-4 pp.

Death Poem

References

See also