Japanese Death Poems

(secretorum.life)

45 points | by NaOH 2 days ago

6 comments

  • pjc50 1 hour ago
    I 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.

  • DaedalusII 10 minutes ago
    The sun sips the sky until it is drowning

    I am circling my prey

    If I am strong, the world will finally let us be

    https://pearlharbor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/USS-Essex...

  • seletskiy 2 hours ago

      Now 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.
  • pndy 1 hour ago
    This is surely epitaph equivalent from that part of the world

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epitaph?useskin=vector

  • block_dagger 2 hours ago
    Death is apparently snowy
    • lukan 1 hour ago
      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.
  • pelasaco 1 hour ago
    "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?

    • pjc50 56 minutes ago
      "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.

    • shawn_w 1 hour ago
      Passing wind is another term (among many others) for farting.