In my heart,

Laying tiny spotted eggs,

Which remained there

In the very depths of my heart

Where not a wind blows

And not a drop of rainfalls.

They softly sounded against each other

When my heart ached,

And stirred in the narrow space.

Ah, it was the day

I stood on the volcano,

The heat wrapping my whole being

And the ashes pouring over me.

My heart was hers

When the little wrens

Broke the shells

With their tiny beaks as they grew.

　XIV

My poem starts

With the sun setting

Beyond the volcano.

Like the wind passing

Over the rushes,

It makes no sound for the heart

Of a hasty wayfarer.

The firefly lights my watch

As it flutters its thin wings.

　XVIII

The parsley is bright

Under the wings of the wagtail,

My love,

And the lane, as it passes

Under the fir trees,

Gives a clear glimpse of the sky.

Not a cloud above,

The reeds in the pond afar

Rustle in the wind, and I

Feel the presence of autumn in everything.

The thunderclouds have already gone past

The summit of the volcano

Beyond the hillock of Hanareyama,

And the streams

Running toward the southern boundary

As they lure friends

With their melancholy voices.

My love,

The parting time is come.

Leave desolation and annihilation

To the clear brook

And let memory stay on the bank.

Let us leave,

Riding the rainbow,

For the land

Where no words avail,

Nothing to give,

Nothing to get.

                            Translated by George Saito



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（Work Posted）

POEMS FROM PRELUDES (Zensoukyoku) was published by Tokyo Sougensha in 1956. An excerpt of this gentle lyrical verse was translated into English and published by the Japan P.E.N Club in 1968.（From The Japan P.E.N. News No.21 1968）