Japanese Death Poems
secretorum.life
Japanese Death Poems
1–10 of 51 posts
Re: Japanese Death Poems
#2Death is apparently snowy
Re: Japanese Death Poems
#3 Now that my storehouse
has burned down, nothing
conceals the moon.
Ever since my house burnt down,
I see the moon more clearly
Re: Japanese Death Poems
#4"A last fart:
are these the leaves
of my dream, vainly falling?
In the original, the image of a dream is combined with the cruder image of passing wind.."
Is the wind representing the fart here?
Re: Japanese Death Poems
#5Now that my storehouse has burned down, nothing conceals the moon. This piece instantly reminded me of Ashes and Snow movie, where one of the poems has very similar opening (followed, in my opinion, by even more beautiful piece, which you can easily find if interested): Ever since my house burnt down, I see the moon more clearly I wonder whether or not this is just a coincidence.
I was reminded of the writer Pico Iyer's beautiful writing in Aflame: Learning from Silence of exactly this sentiment, after his house burned down [1]
`My house burnt down
I can now see better
The rising moon`
[1] https://www.mariashriversundaypaper.com/pico-iyers-fire-grie...
Re: Japanese Death Poems
#6Death is apparently snowy
I don't know whether there is a specific japanese cultural explanation, but in general it often was. In winter when it was cold, those who lacked the strength to go on, layed down in the snow to rest forever.
Re: Japanese Death Poems
#7This is surely epitaph equivalent from that part of the world
Re: Japanese Death Poems
#8I only know a tiny corner of the language, but for things like this I really wish they'd cite the original Japanese. Precisely because the haiku is a constrained form, it is also an opportunity for ambiguity, double-meaning, and cases where a word may be translated with the same semantics but different connotations.
By comparison, the gold standard for dealing with non-English poetry in English: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1...
You have (1) the original Greek, (2) word-by-word lookup, (3) translation notes, and (4) multiple translations.
Re: Japanese Death Poems
#9"A last fart: are these the leaves of my dream, vainly falling? In the original, the image of a dream is combined with the cruder image of passing wind.." Is the wind representing the fart here?
Passing wind is another term (among many others) for farting.
Re: Japanese Death Poems
#10"A last fart: are these the leaves of my dream, vainly falling? In the original, the image of a dream is combined with the cruder image of passing wind.." Is the wind representing the fart here?
"Passing wind" is an English euphemism, the original does not use "kaze" (wind) but goes straight for "he" (fart).
The original word order also puts the dream at the start and drops fart right at the end, which I think is funnier than putting it on the first line.