Takeaki Enomoto · Former shogunate
Original
醉後吟
Takeaki Enomoto's Chinese-style poem, "醉後吟五稜郭畔望江城流落天涯孤客情有". Read the original Japanese, translation, meaning, and historical background. There is a dangerous exaltation in Enomoto as a defeated man who has not yet broken.
Person
Commander of the shogunate navy and president of the Hakodate government, later imprisoned and then employed by the Meiji state. He is one of the most complex defeated men of the Bakumatsu: a rebel, a prisoner, a technocrat, and eventually a servant of the new order.
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Translation
From beside Goryokaku I look toward Edo, a lonely exile at the edge of the world, vowing to return with soldiers in spring.
Poetic Shape Kanshi draws on a classical Chinese poetic tradition, where restraint, allusion, and moral tension carry much of the weight. The poem sounds formal, but the pressure beneath it is personal.
Reading
There is a dangerous exaltation in Enomoto as a defeated man who has not yet broken. The dream of the Hakodate government and the old shogunate view of 'rebels' are both strong here.
Background
Written around the end of 1868, when former shogunate forces used Goryokaku as their base. The dream of retaking Edo already carries the sadness of a lonely exile. Commander of the shogunate navy and president of the Hakodate government, later imprisoned and then employed by the Meiji state.
Source / Transmission Wording and readings may differ by transmission; this page treats the text as one circulated form.
Further Reading
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