Isami Kondo · Shinsengumi
Original
孤軍援絶作俘囚
Isami Kondo's Chinese-style poem, "孤軍援絶作俘囚顧念君恩涙更流一片丹衷". Read the original Japanese, translation, meaning, and historical background. This Chinese poem receives defeat from the position of commander.
Person
Commander of the Shinsengumi and head of the Tennen Rishin-ryu school, executed at Itabashi. Rising from farmer to shogunate retainer, he carried the pride and tragedy of the Shinsengumi into defeat.
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Translation
Alone, with aid cut off, I become a prisoner; remembering my lord’s grace, tears fall, yet my loyal heart dies for duty.
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
This Chinese poem receives defeat from the position of commander. The feeling of gratitude to the shogunate is dense in a man who rose from farmer to retainer.
Background
Introduced as one of Kondo Isami's death poems. Before his execution at Itabashi, the defeat of the Shinsengumi and loyalty to the shogunate are compressed into it. Commander of the Shinsengumi and head of the Tennen Rishin-ryu school, executed at Itabashi.
Source / Transmission Wording and readings may differ by transmission; this page treats the text as one circulated form.
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