Whether one passes on or remains is all the same.
That you can take no one with you is the only difference.
Ah, how pleasant! Two awakenings and one sleep.
This dream of a fleeing world! The roseate hues of early dawn!
Tokugawa Ieyasu
1542-1616
Source
This poem comes from the Samurai Archives.
More Death Poems
Interested in Japanese death poems? You can find more in Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death.
