Choha

Choha, or Doppo-an Choha, (1703 - 1740) was a japanese haiku poet.

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Quotes

A raging sea
thrown from the deck
a block of ice.
- Japanese Death Poems. Compiled by Yoel Hoffmann. ISBN 978-0-8048-3179-6. Cited in: Eugene Thacker. "Black Illumination: Zen and the poetry of death," Special to the JAPAN TIMES, July 2, 2016.

The printmakers made an economical use of the medium in producing Deer in the Snow, and the low-key palette and the bold outline led to a curiously affecting picture, the contrast of the timid animal and the stark drift of snow suggesting a suggesting a sentimentality not normally found in Toyo's work... It is one of those limited-edition books called kubari-hon, private publications, compiled in this case by a coterie of haiku poets to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the death of Doppo-an Choha (1703-1740), whom they revered as their teacher.
- Jack Ronald Hillier. The Japanese picture book: a selection from the Ravicz Collection. 1991.

And then there are those poems so absorbed in the great unknown that death becomes nearly indistinguishable from life. The jisei of Rankei Doryu, who died in 1278, reads:

Thirty years and more

I worked to nullify myself.

Now I leap the leap of death.

The ground churns up

The skies spin round.

The death haiku of Choha, who died in 1740, also evokes this silence.

Eugene Thacker. "Black Illumination: Zen and the poetry of death," Special to the JAPAN TIMES, July 2, 2016.