SEIHAKU, Irako
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秋風吹いて 河添の旅籠屋さびし 哀れなる旅の男は 夕暮の空を眺めて いと低く歌ひはじめぬ
處女と成りて 白き額月に現はれ 亡父は 童子と成りて 圓き肩銀河を渡る
夜の河白く 河越えて煙の小野に かすかなる笛の音ありて 旅人の胸に觸れたり
谷間の歌は 續きつゝ斷えつゝ哀し 大空の返響の音と 地の底のうめきの声と 交はりて調は深し
母はやどりぬ 若人に 父は降れり 小野の笛煙の中に かすかなる節は残れり
歌ひ續けぬ 嬰子の昔にかへり 微笑みて歌ひつゝあり
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How bleak the river inn. The pitiable traveller Looks up at evening sky
And softly starts to sing.
A fair maid's once again, Appears upon the moon; His long-departed father's form, Become a child's again,
Spreads 'cross the Milky Way
The river, pale in the night, And fields beyond, with rising smoke The faint sound of a flute,
The traveller's breast does reach.
Are heard, cut short, and heard again Their echoes from the sky combine With groans from under earth
And blend in music deep
Has lodged within him now And to him in his youth, too, is His father now descent. And of the flute of hazy fields
One faint strain now remains
Returning to his days of youth Smiling, he is singing yet
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Child of Anori
A village of small houses
Built against a rough, stone wall,
Whelre hearts and minds echo together as one.
A single child, knowing no fear,
Smiles as he faces the vast, open sea
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I've traveled so much that my dress is worn out
My dress that the cold penetrates
Far, so far from home
The sky is clear tonight, but
How my heart aches
(English version: Z. DE MEESTER)
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Just because he said
"In a moment I will come",
I've awaited him
Until the moon of daybreak,
In the long month, has appeared.
Moonlight and Sunlight
Moonlight speaks—
I saw the First Princess,
white as the hour before dawn,
standing upon the tower steps,
playing her ancient blue flute
deep into the night.
Sunlight speaks—
I saw the Second Princess,
perfumed with fragrant wood,
bathing in milk-white waters
beside the rail of a boat.
Her flower-like body shone,
and all the earth rang
with the happiness of heaven;
above her,
a rainbow opened.
Moonlight speaks—
I saw the First Princess
adrift upon the lake
in a boat no larger than a leaf,
wandering beneath the mist.
Her long hair,
her beautiful body,
were loosened and tangled
by the wind.
Sunlight speaks—
I saw the Second Princess
reflected in a pillar of polished gold.
A proud bird swept its tail;
the wind rose suddenly,
and the waves broke white.
Through the palace veiled in mist
she drew her seven-foot train,
and behind her
a path of gold remained.
Moonlight speaks—
I saw the First Princess
lying white and still
beneath a rock
on the Island of Death.
No flowers bloomed beside her.
Only her body remained,
cold beneath the moon.
Sunlight speaks—
I saw the Second Princess.
A prince came through the grass
beneath the castle walls,
seeking a bride.
He lifted her onto his swift horse—
sparks flew beneath its hooves—
and together they rode away,
far beyond the royal gates.
And then,
so softly,
the wind of spring
began to blow.