APAD: To die with one's boots on.

7
7grizzly
楼主 (文学城)

Meaning: originally to die violently but often used today to describe a person

who dies while still active.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Trying to jump on the bandwagon of poetry, I, an eternal imposter, on the

proverb arranged my thoughts below.

 

    We Chinese avoid the topic like a plague

    and would shun death itself if only we could.

    In the west, the subject seems much less taboo.

    I used to laugh at the ancient Greek notion

    that the best way to go is to die in battle.

    Many moons passed since I heard it

    and nowadays on the idea I am almost sold.

    As we live in a much less martial world,

    to check out with one's boots on sounds not bad at all.

 

Forget it. I'm no poet after all :-)

盈盈一笑间
Because of the influence of Christianity, Western culture is
盈盈一笑间
less taboo about death.
7
7grizzly
It could be but the Greeks & Romans were pagans BC...
盈盈一笑间
The Old Testament of the Bible was written in B.C.
C
CBA7
A good write with a great sense of humor. Love it!
移花接木
Remembered one words of the 50 Spartans against
移花接木
100000 Persian Army ---Today !!! we die
暖冬cool夏
Nice! Ur English is so superb, poems only need time&ryhme
移花接木
哈哈哈哈,In a much less martial world,
移花接木
Jiu-Jitsu to make dream come true
移花接木
the Estern should also believe in reincarnation;
移花接木
doubted how much faith
7
7grizzly
Thank you. I appreciate it.
7
7grizzly
Thank you, 暖冬, as always. So there's hope :-)
7
7grizzly
It might indeed. But I'll settle for our proverb as default.
7
7grizzly
That's true. Too bad for those races w/o sagas to pass on:-(
7
7grizzly
The faith is strong but the flesh is weak :-)
方外居士
Closest Chinese: 鞠躬尽瘁 死而后已。生命不息,战斗不止。but still not the same

Meaning.

 

方外居士
The main diff is the attitude to death.
7
7grizzly
Any cultural lessons in there? :-)
方外居士
In Chinese: Life stop at death. In eng, life does not stop

At death

main diff

方外居士
At death
7
7grizzly
That sounds only Marxian Chinese, a blip in history.
方外居士
Marxian is part of western culture on different root from

Chinese culture

7
7grizzly
And with Buddhism, the Chinese started to believe in samsara
方外居士
samsara Is not the same as life does not stop at death
方外居士
It took 1000 yrs for Buddhism to be accepted by Chinese. And

Final Buddhism in China is a compromise with local teachings (Taoism, Confucianism).

the root of Chinese culture remains as before, not replaced by Buddhism.

7
7grizzly
1k years seems too short. Another 10k will fix it:)
w
waterfowl
Nice poem!
方外居士
You are absolutely right!
7
7grizzly
Thanks. Couldn’t help trying:)