Rinshitsu ni

隣室に/書よむ子らの/声きけば
　　　心に沁みて/生きたかりけり
(島木赤彦 1876-1926)

rinshitsu ni / fumiyomu kora no / koe kikeba
　　　kokoro ni shimite / ikitakarikeri
(Shimaki Akahiko 1876-1926)

hearing children
in the next
room reading:
　　　pierced in the heart -
　　　I want to live!


It's easy to get the point of this poem, especially when you know that the poet died shortly afterwards from stomach cancer, at the age of 49 (Japanese link). I imagine Shimaki longing for the invincibility children have, not thinking that death applies to them, while dying himself of a disease that normally (as far as I know) would come later in life. But regardless of when it would normally come, there's not necessarily a sense of resignation. A haiku or tanka written by a dying poet is called a '絶詠' (zetsuei), I have just discovered, and something about these kanji (the first associated for me with 'cutting off' or 'extinction', and the second with 'composition') brings the idea of creativity in the face of death home to me more forcefully than a 'death poem'.

The 'keri' suffix of 'ikitakarikeri' is used for poetic emphasis, so that I think my exclamation mark is justified. With this one word filling up the last seven syllables, it seems to also add emphasis simply through its length. There's an interesting discussion on a Japanese blog of the poem, particularly focussing on 'shimiru', and there's also a translation. The blogger notes that 'shimiru' and 'pierce' have different nuances, with 'shimiru' having connections with 'soaking in' and 'absorption' as well as 'piercing', though finally decides that there is no better word to use. If you look at the translation you'll notice 'kokoro' is also translated as 'soul'. However, when we talk about being pierced in the heart, we're not always talking literally, and sometimes the English 'heart' covers the soul and spirit in the same way that 'kokoro' does.