Though I heard
Everyone goes this road
Eventually
I didn't expect that
I'd be on it yesterday or today
- Ariwara no Narihira, 880

A flower of Sponge cucumber blooms
Phlegm gets caught
In the dead's throat
- Masaoka Shiki, 1902

There is no death;
there is no life.
Indeed, the skies are cloudless
And the river waters clear.
- Toshimoto, Taiheiki

I wish to die
in spring, beneath
the cherry blossoms,
while the springtime moon
is full.
- Saigyo, 1190

Illusion appears, illusion ceases
The biggest illusion among all is our body
Once a pacified heart finds its place
There's no such body to look for
- Zheng Ting, 621

Empty-handed I entered the world
Barefoot I leave it.
My coming, my going —
Two simple happenings
That got entangled.
- Kozan Ichikyo, 1360

Bury me when I die
beneath a wine barrel
in a tavern.
With luck
the cask will leak.
- Moriya Sen'an 1838

I wish I could enjoy,
the rest of Spring,
as the cherry blossoms are yet in bloom,
in spite of the spring breeze
which is attempting to blow off all their petals.
– Asano Naganori, 1701

To be saved from the chasm
why cling to the cliff?
Clouds floating low never know where the breezes will blow them.
- Sengai Gibon, 1837

Flash of steel stills me;
calmness mirrors the ocean;
I await the waves.
*
The death of blossoms;
is not something to grieve on;
but the way of things.
- Asakura Sōteki, 1555

The glory and prosperity of my life was as good as a single cup of sake.
My life of forty-nine years is passed like a dream.
I know not what life is; nor death.
Both Heaven and Hell are left behind.
I stand in the moonlit dawn; free from clouds of attachment.
- Uesugi Kenshin, 1578

My whole life long I've sharpened my sword
And now, face to face with death
I unsheathe it, and lo-
The blade is broken-
Alas!
– Dairin Soto, 1568

I borrow moonlight
for this journey of a
million miles
- Saikaku, 1730

Not knowing
that my body lies
upon Mount Kamo's rocks,
my love
awaits me.
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, 707

Overtaken by darkness
I will lodge under
the boughs of a tree.
Flowers alone
host me tonight.
- Taira no Tadanori, 1184

Like a rotten log
half-buried in the ground-
my life, which
has not flowered, comes
to this sad end.
- Minamoto no Yorimasa, 1180

Had I not known
that I was dead
already
I would have mourned
my loss of life.
- Ota Dokan, 1486

Since I was born
I have to die,
and so ...
- Kisei, 1764

Till now I thought
that death befell
the untalented alone.
If those with talent, too, must die
surely they make a better manure?
- Morikawa Kyoriku, 1715

One leaf lets go, and
then another takes
the wind.
- Ransetsu, 1707

I cleansed the mirror
of my heart - now it reflects
the moon.
- Renseki, 1789

Let them bloom or
let them die-it's all the same:
cherry trees on Mount Yoshino.
- Rekisen, 1834

Depths of cold
unfathomable
ocean roar.
- Kasenjo, 1776

A tune of non-being
Filling the void:
Spring sun
Snow whiteness
Bright clouds
Clear wind.
- Daido Ichi'i, 1370

I raise the mirror of my life
Up to my face: sixty years.
With a swing I smash the reflection-
The world as usual
All in its place.
- Taigen Sofu, 1555

I cast the brush aside-
from here on I'll speak to the moon
face to face.
- Koha, 1897

The joy of dewdrops
in the grass as they
tum back to vapor.
- Koraku, 1837

The foam on the last water
has dissolved
my mind is clear.
- Mitoku, 1669

Still tied to the world,
I cool off and lose
my form.
- Ozui, 1783

Festival of Souls:
yesterday I hosted them
today I am a guest ...
- Sofu, 1891

Spitting blood
clears up reality
and dream alike.
- Sunao, 1926

I go back
to the void where frost and snow
won't bother me.
- Tojaku, 1799

My life was
lunacy until
this moonlit night.
- Tokugen, 1647

The owner of the cherry blossoms
turns to compost
for the trees.
- Utsu, 1863