If those with talent, too,/ must die/ surely they make/ a better manure?
February 10, 2017 7:12 AM   Subscribe

My parents didn’t give me a name; they simply never got around to choosing one. On April 7, I nearly died after choking—and they saddled me with that date as a moniker, a sort of inescapable memento mori. Parting Shot - “Famous last words” and Japanese death poems (Angela Chen, the Paris Review). [via]
posted by Think_Long (4 comments total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
In case you, too, are curious, I tracked down Mishima's poem that she mentions in the article:
A small night storm blows
Saying ‘falling is the essence of a flower’
Preceding those who hesitate
posted by jeweled accumulation at 8:33 AM on February 10, 2017 [2 favorites]


This was quite interesting, thank you for posting it.
posted by Diablevert at 1:13 PM on February 10, 2017


That was a nice read, succinct with some touching poetry scattered about. I'd be interested to know if there are any other similar customs to death poems.
posted by lucidium at 6:13 AM on February 11, 2017


The article links to the book Japanese Death Poems, which I highly recommend.

One of my favorites in the book is by Oto:

At night my sleep
embraces the summer shadows
of my life.

I also like the one by Bufu:

Oh I don't care
where autumn clouds
are drifting to.
posted by gudrun at 7:03 AM on February 11, 2017 [3 favorites]


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