Discussion Samurai death/suicide poems

[MrDarkness]

So I thought I'd posts this as it's something we can all relate to in a way, I'm going to give a brief history of death poems, then examples then my own.

So samurai's ancient worriers of Japan, they would write poems via the haiku format or others before going into battle or before they commit suicide.
Why would they commit suicide?

Samurais would often either commit suicide to prevent being taken prisoner, to preserve what honour they have, or as a punishment, examples of this, sorry I can't give names or dates as I'm not quite sure but I heard of these cases
One cause of a samurai army losing a navy battle, they drowned themselves in their due to the shame.
A samurai put his sword in his mouth, then jumped off his horse at full speed to escape capture.

Here are some examples
Sources via shogun 2 a rts game known for its historical accuracy

Noble enemy: I mourn your loss as I mourned; for my first-born son."

"Shapes in the shadow; a glint of steel; the silence steals my happy life."

"Cunning tanuki; he preys upon my humble soul; I have no defence."

"The old carp is wise; he whispers his dark secrets; only the wind hears."
"Wounded and beaten; go without me my brothers; I leave my body here."


"Winter's first snow; bodies freeze upon the ground; remnants of battle."


"I die triumphant; my soul soars above the snow; released at last."


"Although I greet death; I do not fear its icy grip; my soul is at peace."

here is mine

My heart is broken; it can not be repaired;I can finally return home.

What would yours be like? I thought this topic is cool or fun, since some of us are going to ctb soon or are thinking about this.

 

[losing hope]

Was reading this the other day;

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4369548/#:~:text=Seppuku%2C%20the%20ancient%20samurai%20ritual,out%20both%20there%20and%20abroad.

"Seppuku, the ancient samurai ritual of suicide by self-stabbing, was long considered an honorable act of self-resolve such that despite the removal of cultural sanctioning, the rate of suicide in Japan remains high with suicide masquerading as seppuku still carried out both there and abroad"

Will be taking on the following mindset in order to overcome SI. "I am a Samurai fighting to leave this world of Nazi's. So ctb'ing is just doing what Samuari's do."

Is anyone else inspired by something simliar?

 

[Fktw0rld]

If I could return to my past, I would, but no one is there. I lost myself while helping others. The void is eternal. My journey has come to an end.

 

[Deleted member 65988]

Will be taking on the following mindset in order to overcome SI. "I am a Samurai fighting to leave this world of Nazi's. So ctb'ing is just doing what Samuari's do."

Thing is, they did it in a situation where they were either caught and executed like Mitsunari for example after Sekigahara or they were about to be but decided to commit suicide to avoid capture or after taking a big loss in battle and power where even their own retainers joined them like the mass suicide of the Rokuhara Tandai in Kyoto and Tokuso Hojo after much of Kamakura had fallen in 1333 with most of their forces put to the sword. These were extreme circumstances that allowed them to have the mental resolve to take their lives because there wasn't any other way.

 

[MrDarkness]

If I could return to my past, I would, but no one is there. I lost myself while helping others. The void is eternal. My journey has come to an end.

Wow I'm surprised this thread ever got recognized, thanks I love your poem

 

[Tokugawa_Yoshinobu]

I always loved this topic. It's so poetic to write a poem before death or sometimes I've seen death poems have described as such if it was just the last poem that person wrote without the intention of it being a death poem.

Samurai wrote them as well before going into a battle they might not come out alive. I want to write a poem before I take my own life too because it's in a way more personal than leaving a final note and seems less intrusive while still stating your final thoughts and feelings about things.

I have a favourite death poem:

Like an old tree
From which we gather no flowers
Sad has been my life
Fated no fruit to produce

- Minamoto no Yorimasa (1106 - 1180)

 

[IWishToDie]

Was reading this the other day;

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4369548/#:~:text=Seppuku%2C%20the%20ancient%20samurai%20ritual,out%20both%20there%20and%20abroad.

"Seppuku, the ancient samurai ritual of suicide by self-stabbing, was long considered an honorable act of self-resolve such that despite the removal of cultural sanctioning, the rate of suicide in Japan remains high with suicide masquerading as seppuku still carried out both there and abroad"

Will be taking on the following mindset in order to overcome SI. "I am a Samurai fighting to leave this world of Nazi's. So ctb'ing is just doing what Samuari's do."

Is anyone else inspired by something simliar?

Sorry History fan here, the Samurai would not have minded the Nazis so much, if they existed during the same period. Japan was apart of the axis powers long after the Samurai disappeared. Quite nationalistic traditions. Samurai would have had a bigger issue with Christians, Mongols etc. You might want to change your mantra slightly. Lol.

 

[Peerless_Cucumber]

Samurai would commit Seppuku for the reasons you listed. It's a ritualistic way to lose ones life and preserve ones honor and possibly the most well known and wrongly portrayed way to ctb in media.
Seppuku can't really be considered as a form of suicide any longer by today's standard as people died of beheading by an assistant rather than by the consequences of them stabbing themselves. This was done in order to have a faster and less painful death. Also more often than not this is entirely cut out in movies to make the scenes more devastating. Therefore technically it would be considered murder by today's standards though everyone refers to it as suicide because the one who died wanted it to happen.
How ironic considering no one would think of a person who previously failed their suicide attempt and being willingly killed by another afterwards as them committing suicide.

Edit to add: I'm studying Japanese and consider writing my Bachelor thesis about this topic