A princess's seppuku (Snuff Poem No 78)
A battle lost, an empty-saddled horse, a fallen banner
My father slain, my sister speared
It's my turn to die in befitting manner
Sode and Do my maidens lay aside
My riding shirt removed and folded in a pile
The white shiromuku adhered to my skin
In front of me, my tanto sparkling clean
I recollect myself, it was a meaningful life
filled with battle honors spaced with poems I write
Secret lovers' caress, moans behind screens
Innocent laughers with girls in teens
The sakura of Kyoto, I will see you no more
And that young samurai who used to pass my door
My head will be a trophy, my body disgraced
Our Keep will burn for nights and days
「The enemy is approaching,」 my maids have me remind'd
I slip off the shiromuku and the white silk my tits bound
A last prayer offered, the tanto rinsed
I begin the ritual to die like a man
I feel the agony, I gasp at the pain
So, this is what it is like, the real thing
A flood of ecstasy sweeps across my whole
The blade reaches the other side and I deliberately hold
「Dear Kaishakunin, steady your sword
When I stab into my heart, behead me on the spot
Watch how my blood spurt, my body stays upright
so they will show admiration at the pretty sight.」
by Hitomi
13 Oct 2014
Sode: shoulder armor
Do : breast-plate
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