Japanese Death Poems

Although the consciousness of death is, in most cultures, very much a part of life, this is perhaps nowhere more true than in Japan, where the approach of death has given rise to a centuries-old tradition of writing jisei, or the "death poem." Such a poem is often written in the very last moments of the poet's life.

on a journey, ill:
my dream goes wandering
over withered fields   (Basho)

illness lingers on and on
till over Basho’s withered fields,
the moon    (Gimei)

Approaching death Shisui students asked him to write a death poem. Shisui “grasped his brush, painted a circle, cast the brush aside and died”.  This symbol is known as the enso which is prominent in Zen Buddhism and indicates the emptiness of all things.