Receiving the ashes of the dead
both valiant and sorrowful the white box
isamashiku mo kanashiku mo shiroi hako
1937–1938 · Wartime verses
Sōmokutō · The Home Front (Jūgo)
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A verse on receiving the ashes of the dead. The "valiant" that praises an honored death in battle, and the "sorrowful" of the true feeling welling up. The two words stand together upon one white box. Refusing to settle on either one, the verse simply ends.