Doing an online search turns up this English translation:
That which blossoms
falls, the way of all flesh
in this world of flowers.
The website at which I found it is In A Dark Time: Japanese Death Poems. The book that site's author makes reference to, Japanese Death Poems, is where I first saw it as well.
My favorite jisei is one by Toko:
Jisei to wa
Sunawachi mayoi
Tada shinan
(translation:
Death poems
Are mere delusion —
Death is death.)
Toko's is wonderfully self-referential. At first glance, it seems bitter and mocking, but placed in the context of his life it seems to convey a profound understanding of the simplicity and uniqueness of the concept of death. He simply divests it of artifice and lays it bare, refusing to judge it. Unfortunately, it doesn't really translate so well to Perl — at least, not at my current level of understanding of Perl. Perhaps that translation is a project for a later date.
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Thank you for the info! I love Japanese poetry, but finding decent resources can be challenging (especially since I don't speak Japanese).
Death poems
Are mere delusion —
Death is death.
if (ref $death eq "REF") {
die ($death == $death )
}
radiantmatrix
require General::Disclaimer;
"Users are evil. All users are evil. Do not trust them. Perl specifically offers the -T switch because it knows users are evil." - japhy
| [reply] [d/l] |
Hm. I'll have to "meditate" on that translation to Perl for a while, see if it works for me.
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