Customer Reviews

Japanese Death Poems

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This is a well-researched book that contains approximately 200 "death" poems, with each averaging 3 lines. The author presents a detailed description of each poem, with a discussion of its cultural significance and the meaning of each line in the poem. For example, the death poem:

Clouds drifting off:

The sight of

Moonlit heavens.

In this poem, the reference to clouds refers to the Japanese belief that floating clouds symbolize the life of man. The author of this poem died in August, which is a traditional month of moon viewing in Japan.

While the title sounds grim, in Japanese culture death poems are a celebration of death, written by the person who his facing his or her own mortality. Death, in this context, is a transition to another life form (in my opinion). In addition to the poems, the author presents a beautiful discussion of poetry in Japan, and how it relates to their view of death. The book contains poems from Zen monks and famous haiku poets.

Another poem that appealed to me as a writer:

I write, erase, rewrite,

Erase again, and then

A poppy blooms.

Ron Atkins is the author of two children's books, Abby and the Bicycle Caper, and his upcoming (January 2005) Abby and the Bike Race Mystery.

This book is a collection of Death poems from throughout Japanese history. There is a long standing tradition of writing a farewell to the world shortly before your demise. Most of these are written by Zen monks or Haiku poets, and most convey a peaceful, resigned, almost restful view of death. If you're feeling mortal, worried that you might not live forever, it may give you a little peace of mind. This view of Death is very different from the traditional Western one, and provides an interesting window on Japanese culture. The only thing I didn't like about the book was its tendency to lapse into pedantic historical explanations between poems.