mi ha tatoi
musashi no nobe ni
kuchinu tomo
tomeoka mashi
yamato damashii
Even if my life ends on the musashi plain
the japanese spirit will still remain
* forgive the silly rhyme and poor meter! I'm a kyuuryou dorobou dammit, not a poet!
Yoshida Shoin wrote his death poem, or jisei, while in prison before his execution in 1859 for his role in the anti-shogunate/pro-emperor movement.
In great historical irony, Shoin's grave in Tokyo is only a short walk from Gotoku Temple and the grave of Naosuke Ii, the person who ordered his execution.
Yoshida Shoin's jisei is a classic example of kobun, or archaic Japanese writing. | 
