Eight-hundred men were killed
Eight-hundred were sent to the war.
The emperor sent the eight-hundred Ronin
To the battlefield
So he could seize control of the citadels.
Their death would send an outcry
Throughout the kingdom.
Their death would be heroic,
A testimony of loyalty to their emperor.
The eight-hundred were slaughtered
Without much fight.
Swords clashed, iron flashed
Mounts hurdled over children.
In the towns children were slain
Elderly were thrown to the ground.
The 800 Ronin defended the village
From twenty-thousand mongols
Who landed their ships upon
The beaches of the Rising Sun.
The eight-hundred fought hard,
But in two hours were swept by the hordes of the Mongols.
They killed, among them, seventeen-hundred.
Each Ronin had killed two.
Three Hundred and Thirty two Ronin had killed three.
One Ronin had killed four.
The report got back to the country
As the Prince was in the citadel with his father
Who expected to be lauded a great hero
For the fame awarded by these Samurai’s loyalty.
Instead, the peoples held outside,
Never knowing the misdeed that was done.
They mourned the Ronin, but did not give honor to the king.
They did not even know that the king’s honor was why this act was done.
Therefore, the peoples wept for the Ronin.
But none knew it was the King who sent them into battle.
For his honor…
But none understood how it made the king honorable
So it did not bring him any honor,
Nor dishonor.
B. K. Neifert 