In old age, when he was very ill, he wrote "The Setting Sun" about Japanese imperialism in its final moments: "The sun's slanting rays yellow as west it creeps / For what place has brilliance left so soon? / How short men's torment in the bitter heat / Behind them rises the waxing eastern moon."
例如被尊為「台灣新文學之父」的賴和，早年是寫舊詩起家；他晚年病重時，曾寫過一首「夕陽」，描寫他對日薄西山的帝國主義最後的一瞥：「日漸西斜色漸昏，炎威赫赫竟何存，人間苦熱無多久，回首東方月一痕。」