[convoluted logic]
The Samurai Ideal of Love
The extreme attitude of love is a secret feeling of love. It is like this:
I will love to death, with my inner thoughts never revealed;
Let others know it by (my) death smoke.
It is no longer a deep love if you allow it to be revealed during your lifetime. The extent of love is limitlessly long when you carry through your love till death. Even if the other person asks you, "Isn't it this?" ("Isn't it that you love me?") you answer her by, "Such a thing has never entered my head."
Dying in love is the highest form of love. This is really a roundabout way (of love). When I last spoke with some samurai, they shared this opinion, and they decided to call themselves the "smoke group." This attitude can also be applied to many other matters, for example, between the Lord and subject samurai. This way of mind is sufficient for almost any purpose.
The extreme attitude of love is a secret feeling of love. It is like this:
I will love to death, with my inner thoughts never revealed;
Let others know it by (my) death smoke.
It is no longer a deep love if you allow it to be revealed during your lifetime. The extent of love is limitlessly long when you carry through your love till death. Even if the other person asks you, "Isn't it this?" ("Isn't it that you love me?") you answer her by, "Such a thing has never entered my head."
Dying in love is the highest form of love. This is really a roundabout way (of love). When I last spoke with some samurai, they shared this opinion, and they decided to call themselves the "smoke group." This attitude can also be applied to many other matters, for example, between the Lord and subject samurai. This way of mind is sufficient for almost any purpose.