To the Lighthouse: Jisei, Japanese Death Poems

Thematically and religiously speaking, the death poem (jisei in Japanese) is a genre of poetry that has historically developed in the literary traditions of East Asian cultures, most prominently in Zen Japan as well as Chan China. It tends to offer the writer's reflection on death that is coupled with an insightful observation on life. 

In the case of Japanese literature, the death poem's structure can be in one of many forms, including the two traditional forms: haiku and tanka. Yoel Hoffmann's 1986 groundbreaking book, Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death, offers "hundreds of Japanese death poems, many with a commentary describing the circumstances of the poet's death. He explores the attitudes and customs surrounding death in historical and present-day Japan and gives examples of how these have been reflected in the nation's literature in general."

Here are some of haiku and tanka selected from his book:

In life I never was

among the well-known flowers

and yet, 

in withering

I am most certainly   

Tomoda Kinpei

And had my days been longer

still the darkness

would not leave this world --

along death’s path, among the hills

I shall behold the moon.

Oroku

Barren branches:

the autumn left behind 

a cicada’s hollow cry.

Kagai

Empty cicada shell:

as we come

we go back naked.

Fukaku

Farewell --

I pass as all things do

dew on the grass.

Banzan 

To conclude today's To the Lighthouse post, I would like to share with you two of my death tanka: 

midnight hush ...

I, a worker in words

straddle the line

between the abstract, death

and the concrete, aging body

the brick shack

with boarded windows

facing a graveyard

in gathering dusk

a torn-up chapbook: I AM

FYI: You can get a free PDF copy of the book here  and here is the link to Janine Beichman's detailed review of the book, "Yoel Hoffmann as Japanologist: Japanese Death Poems."