Man of Letters
Nogi is noted in Japan as a man of letters also. His Kanshi poems (poems using Chinese characters) were especially popular among the Japanese during his time. Three of his Kanshi poems are famous.
Right after the Battle of Nanshan of 1904, in which he lost his eldest son, he wrote:
| 金州城外の作 | Written Outside the Walls of Jinzhou |
|---|---|
| 山川草木轉荒涼 十里風腥新戰場 |
Mountains and rivers, trees and grass, all turned desolate, |
After the battle of 203 Hill of 1904-05, in which he lost his second son, he lamented:
| 爾靈山 | Your Souls' Mountain |
|---|---|
| 爾靈山嶮豈難攀 男子功名期克艱 |
Can we say it was easy to climb 203 Hill? |
After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, he wrote:
| 凱旋 | A Song of Triumph |
|---|---|
| 皇師百萬征強虜 野戰攻城屍作山 |
As a leader of the Imperial Army, I took a million soldiers in hostage. |
Read more about this topic: Nogi Maresuke
Famous quotes containing the words man of, man and/or letters:
“...a man of uncircumcized lips...”
—Bible: Hebrew (RSV)
“The man who, from the beginning of his life, has been bathed at length in the soft atmosphere of a woman, in the smell of her hands, of her bosom, of her knees, of her hair, of her supple and floating clothes, ... has contracted from this contact a tender skin and a distinct accent, a kind of androgyny without which the harshest and most masculine genius remains, as far as perfection in art is concerned, an incomplete being.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)
“Letters are above all useful as a means of expressing the ideal self; and no other method of communication is quite so good for this purpose.... In letters we can reform without practice, beg without humiliation, snip and shape embarrassing experiences to the measure of our own desires....”
—Elizabeth Hardwick (b. 1916)