Poems・by・Yosano AkikO 与謝野晶子 (1878-1942)

Biographical Note
“Born to a well-known confectioner in Sakai, Akiko (née Hō Shō) won national notoriety and

admiration with her first book of tanka, Midaregami (Hair in Disorder), published in August 1901.
At times mesmerizingly narcissistic, the collection of 399 pieces spelled out a young woman’s

sexual thoughts and acts. ‘Not even touching the blood-tide in my soft flesh aren’t you lonely you

who teach the Way?’ – so she said in an often quoted piece. But the man who ‘taught the Way,’

Yosano Tekkan (1873-1935) – the founder and publisher of the romantic poetry magazine Myōjō

(Venus) – was living with one of his former students, who was pregnant. The literary critic
Takayama Chogyū (1871-1902) thundered, accusing Akiko of ‘licentious sentiments and shallow

philosophy,’ and Sasaki Nobutsuna (1872-1963), a poet and a scholar of classical Japanese poetry,

judged that Midaregami was ‘pernicious to the human heart and poisonous to social education.’

But Midaregami had a liberating effect on young men and women at the time, and its hold
remains powerful today. The tanka poet Mizuhara Shion (born 1959), for one, has called

Midaregami ‘an epoch-making work that sought beauty by reaching a woman’s deep
[psychological] strata,’ concluding that it is ‘a collection of nightmares that reveal themselves at

least once to the dullest and most banal of women.’

Akiko married Tekkan in the fall of 1901 and went on to have six sons – the sixth one died

shortly after birth – and six daughters by him, while remaining superhumanly active in a range

of literary endeavors and women’s education. In poetry alone, she wrote fifty thousand tanka and

seven hundred shi. Among her other works that are still widely read today is her translation into

modern Japanese of The Tale of Genji.” (Sato, p. 264)

◍ From Midaregami (Tangled Hair), 1901

かみ お と め
３ 髪五尺ときなば水にやはらかき少女ごころは秘めて放たじ

Hair five feet untangled soft in the water the maiden’s heart I’ll keep secret won’t let it out

(Sato)

Hair, five feet long, loosened and soft in the water – I’ll keep my virgin heart secret, won’t let it go.

(Watson and Sato)

1
 いろ もも
５ 椿それも梅もさなりき白かりきわが罪問はぬ色桃に見る

Camellia, yes, and plum, yes, that too is white; I see in peach the color that doesn’t ask of my sin

(Watson and Sato)

No camellia

Nor plum for me,

No flower that is white.

Peach blossom has a colour

That does not ask my sins.

(Bownas and Thwaite)

は た ち くし
６ その子二十櫛にながるる黒髪のおごりの春のうつくしきかな

The girl twenty flowing through the comb the black hair’s haughty the spring how beautiful

(Sato)

The girl, twenty – her black hair flows through her comb, how arrogant, how beautiful her spring!

(Watson and Sato)

え ん じ いろ いのち
９ 臙脂色は誰にかたらむ血のゆらぎ春のおもひのさかりの 命

Dark red whom shall I tell about it the blood wavers thoughts of spring life in its prime (Sato)

Who shall I tell of the color rouge? my blood wavers, thoughts of spring, life in its prime

(Watson and Sato)

きよみず ぎ お ん さくら づ き よ
18 清水へ祇園をよぎる 桜 月夜こよひ逢ふ人みなうつくしき

Toward Kiyomizu passing Gion cherry moonlight night everyone I see tonight is beautiful

(Sato)

2
To Kiyomizu, through Gion, with the moon above cherries – people I meet tonight are all beautiful

(Watson and Sato)

ち し ほ
26 やは肌のあつき血汐にふれも見でさびしからずや道を説く君

Not even touching the blood-tide in my soft flesh aren’t you lonely you who teach the Way?

(Sato)

Not even trying to touch the hot blood-tide under my soft skin, aren’t you lonely, you who teach

the Way?1 (Watson and Sato)

This hot tide of blood You never touch

beneath soft skin and you don’t The soft skin

even brush it with a fingertip Surging with hot blood

Aren’t you lonely then Are you not bored,

you who preach the Way? Expounding the Way?

(Beichman) (Bownas and Thwaite)

やみ
51 今ここにかへりみすればわがなさけ闇をおそれぬめしひに似たり

Now here when I turn to reflect my love was like a blind man unafraid of the dark (Sato)

When I reflect on it now, my feeling is that of a blind person unafraid of the dark (Watson

and Sato)

56 みだれ髪を京の島田にかへし朝ふしてゐませの君ゆりおこす

My tangled hair made back into Kyō Shimada the morning he’s still in bed I shake him awake

(Sato)

1 By ‘you who teach the Way’ Akiko may have meant Yosano Hiroshi, pen-name Tekkan (1873-
1935), “a poet, whom Akiko met in 1900. Earlier in the same year Hiroshi had founded his New
Poetry Society and, when he started a magazine called Myōjō, Akiko became a member of the
society.” (Watson and Sato, p. 431)

3
Having changed my tangled hair into Shimada style in the morning, I shake my lover awake,

whom I’d told to rest a while (Watson and Sato)

し ん ぴ くれなゐ
68 乳ぶさおさへ神秘のとばりそとけりぬここなる花の 紅 ぞ濃き

Pressing my breasts I softly kick the mystery curtain here the flower’s vermilion is intense

(Sato)

Hugging my breasts I lightly kick the door of mystery – the scarlet of the blossom here is intense

(Watson and Sato)

Pressing my breasts

I softly kick aside

the curtain of mystery

How deep the crimson

of the flower here

(Beichman)

75 なにとなく君に待たるるここちして出でし花野の夕月夜かな

Somehow I felt you waited for me have come out into a flower field this evening moon (Sato)

For some reason I thought you’d be waiting for me, and came out to this field of flowers under the

evening moon (Watson and Sato)

77 ゆあみして泉を出でしやははだにふるるはつらき人の世のきぬ

Hot bathed and out of the spring what touches my soft skin is the silk of the harsh human world

(Sato)

I bathe and step out of the spring; what touches my soft skin then is this world’s cruel fabric

(Watson and Sato)

4
 よ か ぜ
79 うすものの二尺のたもとすべりおちて蛍ながるる夜風の青き

My light dress its two-foot sleeve sliding down it a firefly flows away into night wind blue (Sato)

Sliding down two feet of my gossamer sleeve, a firefly streams away into the blue night wind

(Watson and Sato)

145 夕ふるはなさけの雨よ旅の君ちか道とはで宿とりたまへ

This evening rain is merciful. Traveler, my love, don’t ask for a shortcut, but take a room with me

(Watson and Sato)

154 小百合さく小草がなかに君まてば野末にほいて虹あらはれぬ

As I wait for you in the grass with lilies blooming, the end of the field becomes fragrant, and a

rainbow appears (Watson and Sato)

161 こころみにわかき唇ふれて見れば冷かなるよしら蓮の露

Just to see I touched it with my young lips how cold was the dew on the lotus white (Sato)

Wondering, I touched it with my young lips – it was cold – the dew on a white lotus (Watson

and Sato)

はね
168 つばくらの羽にしたたる春雨をうけてなでむかわが朝寝髪

Spring rain dripping on swallow’s wings I’ll receive it to smooth my morning-slept hair (Sato)

Shall I receive the spring rain dripping on swallow wings, and with it smooth my morning hair?

(Watson and Sato)

5
178 おもひおもふ今のこころに分ち分かず君やしら萩われやしろ百合

You brood I brood our hearts now inseparable are you White Bush Clover am I White Lily 2

(Sato)

You think of him, and so do I; our hearts now, separate, can’t be separated: you are White Bush

Clover; I, White Lily (Watson and Sato)

182 夢にせめてせめてと思ひその神に小百合の露の歌ささやきぬ

“At least, at least in his dreams” – so thinking, I murmured to our god 3 Lily’s poem on dew

(Watson and Sato)

185 ひとまおきてをりをりもれし君がいきその夜しら梅だくと夢みし

One room away I heard you breathe from time to time the night I dreamed I held White Plum

(Sato)

Just one room away, from time to time you sighed – that night, did you dream you held White

Plum?4 (Watson and Sato)

ふ た り ひ と り
186 いはず聴かずただうなづきて別れけりその日は六日二人と一人

Not saying not asking just giving a nod we parted the day was the sixth the two and the one

(Sato)

2 “Tekkan at the time had at least three lovers: Hayashi Takino, with whom he had just had a
son; Akiko; and Yamakawa Tomiko. Each woman had a nickname: Takino was called White
Peony; Akiko, White Bush Clover; and Tomiko, White Lily. The pen name Tekkan means ‘branch
of a plum tree.’” (Sato, p. 266)
“Akiko and her poet friend ... Tomiko (1879-1909), met Hiroshi [Tekkan] and fell in love with
him about the same time. Toward the end of 1900 the three of them traveled to Kyoto together.”
(Watson and Sato, p.433)
3 Akiko may be referring to Hiroshi (Tekkan).
4 “‘White Plum’ may refer to Hayashi Takino, to whom Hiroshi [Tekkan] was married at that

time.” (Watson and Sato, p. 434)

6
Saying nothing, asking nothing, just nodding to each other we parted, two and one – the day was

the sixth (Watson and Sato)

228 むねの清水あふれてつひに濁りけり君も罪の子我も罪の子

Our hearts’ clear water overflowed turned muddy you are a sinful child I’m a sinful child

(Sato)

は た さち
249 二十とせの我世の幸はうすかりきせめて今見る夢やすかれな

Twentieth year my life has so little happiness may the dream I see now be peaceful (Sato)

260 くろ髪の千すぢの髪のみだれ髪かつおもひみだれおもひみだるる

Black hair a thousand strands of hair tangled hair thoughts so tangled thoughts tangled!

(Sato)

Black hair, a thousand strands of hair, tangled hair – my thoughts so tangled, my thoughts get

tangled! (Watson and Sato)

320 いとせめてもゆるがままにもえしめよ斯くぞ覚ゆる暮れて行く春

“At least let it burn just as it burns!” – that way I feel, as spring begins to end (Watson and

Sato)

ふ め つ
321 春みじかし何に不滅の命ぞとちからある乳を手にさぐらせぬ

Spring’s short how can life last forever I said made his hands grope my strong breasts (Sato)

“Spring is short! Who says our life’s immortal?” I said, and made his hands caress my strong

breasts (Watson and Sato)

7
Spring is short: Spring is short

Why ever should it what is there has eternal life

Be thought immortal? I said and

I grope for made his hands seek out

My full breasts with my hands. my powerful breasts

(Bownas and Thwaite) (Beichman)

326 きのふをば千とせの前の世とも思ひ御手なほ肩に有りとも思ふ

Yesterday feels like a thousand years ago; at the same time I feel your hands still on my shoulders

(Watson and Sato)

334 人の子の恋をもとむる唇に毒ある蜜をわれぬらむ願ひ

To smear poisoned honey on my lips that lust for someone’s love – this wish I have! (Watson

and Sato)

もや
336 梅の渓の靄くれなゐの朝すがた山うつくしき我れうつくしき

The way morning looks in the plum valley, haze scarlet – the hills are beautiful, and so am I

(Watson and Sato)

352 道を云わず後を思はず名を問はずここに恋ひ恋ふ君と我と見る

Not speaking of the Way, not thinking of the future, not asking the names, here we find ourselves,

you who love me, I who love you (Watson and Sato)

No words for the Way

no thought for afterward

not caring what they’ll say

here loving, loved

you look on me, I look on you (Beichman)

8
362 罪おほき男こらせと肌きよく黒髪ながくつくられし我れ

So I may punish a man of many sins I’m made with clear skin and long black hair (Sato)

“Let men pay for their

many sins!” So came the words

when I was made

with my face so fair

and this long flow of black hair

(Beichman)

ほそ ま み く ち
373 病みませるうなじに繊きかひな捲きて熱にかわける御口を吸はむ

You’re ill I’ll turn my thin arm around your nape so I may kiss your fever-dry mouth (Sato)

You are ill; let me put my slender arm around your neck and kiss your lips dry from fever

(Watson and Sato)

◍ From Spring Thaw (Shundeishū), 1911

いちにん ふ た り
一人はなほよしものを思へるが二人あるより悲しきは無し

Alone

is better

nothing sadder

than two

depressed together

(Beichman)

9
数しらぬわれの心のきざはしをはた二つ三つ彼や登りし

Of the numberless steps

Up to my heart,

He climbed perhaps

Only two or three.

(Sakanishi)

◍ From From Summer into Autumn (Natsu yori aki e), 1914

のぼ
しめやかに思ひあまれる息をして柳のおくに上りくる月

Sweet and sad

like love overwhelmed

with long sighs,

out of the depths of the willow

little by little

the moon appears.

(Rexroth and Atsumi)

◍ From Japanese Primrose (Sakurasō), 1915

お と め
小鳥きて少女のやうに身を洗ふ木かげの秋の水たまりかな

A bird comes

delicately as a little girl

to bathe

in the shade of my tree

in an autumn puddle.

(Rexroth and Atsumi)

10
◍ From Phoenix (Hi no tori), 1919

とある朝恋を忘れて賢人の際になりぬとおどろきぬわれ

And then one morning

surprised

I found myself

at the brink of wisdom

having forgotten love

(Beichman)

山の動く日 （明治 44 年） The Day the Mountain Moves (1911)5

きた
山の動く日来 る。 The day the mountain moves has come,
い
かく云へども人われを信ぜじ。 So I say, but no one believes me.
しばら
山は 姑 く眠りしのみ。 The mountain has just been asleep awhile.
その昔に於て Once in the past

山は皆火に燃えて動きしものを。 It was all afire, burned, and moved.

されど、そは信ぜずともよし。 But no one needs to believe that.

人よ、ああ、唯これを信ぜよ。 People, simply believe this:

おなご
すべて眠りし 女 今ぞ目覚めて動くなる。 All the women who’ve been asleep, now awake,
are on the move. (Sato)

--------------------
山の動く日きたる、 The day the mountains move has come.
い
かく云へど、人これを信ぜじ。 I speak but no one believes me.
山はしばらく眠りしのみ、 For a time the mountains have been asleep,

その昔、彼等みな火に燃えて動きしを。 But long ago they all danced with fire.

されど、そは信ぜずともよし、 It doesn’t matter if you believe this,

た
人よ、ああ、唯だこれを信ぜよ、 My friends, as long as you believe:
すべて眠りし女、 All the sleeping women
め ざ
今ぞ目覚めて動くなる。 Are now awake and moving.
(Rodd)

5“Written for the founding issue of the magazine Seitō (Bluestocking), which the feminist
Hiratsuka Raichō started in September 1911.” (Sato)

11
君死にたまふことなかれ （明治 37 年）
旅順口包囲軍の中に在る弟を歎きて

けもの
ああ、弟よ、君を泣く、 獣 の道に死ねよとは、
君死にたまふことなかれ。 死ぬるを人の譽れとは、

末に生れし君なれば おほみこころの深ければ
おぼ
親のなさけは勝りしも、 もとより如何で思 されん。
やいば
親は 刃 をにぎらせて
人を殺せと敎へしや、 ああ、弟よ、戦ひに

人を殺して死ねよとて 君死にたまふことなかれ。
にじふし
廿 四 までを育てしや。 過ぎにし秋を父君に

おくれたまへる母君は、
さかひ
堺 の街のあきびとの 歎きのなかに、いたましく、
しにせ も
老舗を誇るあるじにて、 我子を召され、家を守り、
やす おほみよ
親の名を継ぐ君なれば、 安 しと聞ける大御代も
しらが
君死にたまふことなかれ。 母の白髮は増さりゆく。
旅順の城はほろぶとも、
のれん
ほろびずとても、何事ぞ、 暖簾のかげに伏して泣く
にひづま
君は知らじな、あきびとの あえかに若き新 妻 を
家の習ひに無きことを。 君忘るるや、思へるや。
とつき
十月も添はで別れたる
をとめ
君死にたまふことなかれ。 少女ごころを思ひみよ。
すめらみことは、戦ひに この世ひとりの君ならで

おほみづからは出でまさね、 ああまた誰を頼むべき。
かたみ
互 に人の血を流し、 君死にたまふことなかれ。

May It Not Come to Pass That You Die (1904)

Anguished over my younger brother, who is in the army laying siege to Luxu.

“In September 1904, when Akiko published the poem that follows ... she was attacked by would-be patriots,

among them the scholar of Japanese literature Ōmachi Keigetsu, who called her “a traitor, a rebel, a criminal

who ought to be subjected to national punishment.” Japan had gone to war with Russia, and Luxu (Port

Arthur), where Akiko’s brother was sent, had become the largest battleground. In an effort to scale the Russian

fortress, General Nogi Maresuke ... repeated frontal assaults, creating immense casualties. For the four-

month-long assault and defense of the fortress, Japan and Russia would end up deploying a total of 145,000

soldiers, of whom 78,000 became casualties, 18,000 killed.” (Sato, p. 268)

12
May It Not Come to Pass That You Die Beloved, You Must Not Die

Ah, my younger brother, I weep for you, Ah, my brother, I weep for you.

May it not come to pass that you die, Beloved, you must not die.

Because you are the one born last You, the last born,

Parents’ love is greater that much, and so most cherished –

But did they make you hold a blade, did our parents teach you to grasp a sword,

Tell you to kill human beings, to kill another man?

So that you might kill humans and die, Did they bring you up to twenty-four

Have they brought you up till twenty-four? to murder, and then die?

Being the master of a proud old house You, proud master of an old store

Of merchants in the town of Sakai in the merchant city of Sakai,

Destined to inherit your parents’ name, heir to your father’s name –

May it not come to pass that you die, beloved, you must not die.

The Castle of Luxu may be destroyed, What is it to you whether

Or may not, how can that matter, the walls of Port Arthur tumble or they stand?

It’s no concern of yours, no such Why should you care? Such things are not in

Requirement exists in a merchant’s house. the laws of a merchant’s family.

May it not come to pass that you die, Beloved, you must not die.

His Majesty the Emperor would not How could our great emperor,

Himself go out to fight, would He, whose wondrous heart is so deep,

To make each shed the other’s blood, not do battle himself

To order you to die in a beastly way, but still ask others to spill their blood,

To tell you that a man’s honor is to die, to die like beasts,

His Majesty’s heart being deep, and think those deaths a glory?

How would he think of all this?

Ah, my brother, you must not

Ah, my younger brother, in battle die in war.

May it not come to pass that you die, Father dead last fall,

In the autumn that passed Father died, Mother in her grief had to face

Our dear Mother, surviving him, the pain of your being drafted,

In the midst of her grief and pain, of being left alone to watch over our home.

He son summoned, is left to keep house, In this great and peaceful reign

In His Majesty’s reign, in peace, they say, her white hairs have increased.

Mother’s gray hair can only increase.

13
Prostrate by the blinds she weeps, Your new wife, young and lovely, lies

Your wife, so new, innocently young, and weeps behind the shop curtains.

Have you forgotten her, think of her, Have you forgotten her? Do you think of her?

After less than ten months separated, Left alone after being wed less than ten months.

Try to think of a young woman’s heart, Think of her maiden heart!

If not you, the only one in the world for her, Besides you, who, ah who, in all the world

Ah, whom else could she count on, can she rely on?

May it not come to pass that you die. Beloved, you must not die.

(Sato) (Beichman)

第一の陣痛

わたしは今日病んでゐる、 みんな黙つて居て下さい、

生理的に病んでゐる。 みんな傍観者の位置を越えずに居て下さい。

わたしは黙つて目を開いて

産前の床に横になつてゐる。 わたしは唯だ一人、

天にも地にも唯だ一人、

なぜだらう、わたしは じつと唇を噛みしめて

度度死ぬ目に逢つてゐながら、 わたし自身の不可抗力を待ちませう。

痛みと、血と、叫びに慣れて居ながら、

制しきれない不安と恐怖とに慄へてゐる。 生むことは、現に

わたしの内から爆ぜる

若いお医者がわたしを慰めて、 唯だ一つの真実創造、

生むことの幸福を述べて下された。 もう是非の隙も無い。

そんな事ならわたしの方が余計に知つてゐる。

それが今なんの役に立たう。 今、第一の陣痛……

太陽は俄かに青白くなり、

知識も現実で無い、 世界は冷やかに鎮まる。

経験も過去のものである。 さうして、わたしは唯だ一人……

14
Labor Pains The First Labor Pains

I am sick today, I am ill today,

sick in my body, physiologically ill.

eyes wide open, silent, Wordless, eyes open,

I lie on the bed of childbirth. I lie in bed before birth.

Why do I, Why is it – although

so used to the nearness of death, I’ve almost died a number of times,

to pain and blood and screaming, though I’m used to the pains, the blood, the cries,

now uncontrollably tremble with dread? I’m trembling with anxieties and fear I can’t control.

A nice young doctor tried to comfort me, A young doctor tried to soothe me,

and talked about the joy of giving birth. describing the happiness of giving birth.

Since I know better than he about this matter, I know such things better than he.

what good purpose can his prattle serve? What’s the use of that now?

Knowledge is not reality. Knowledge is not reality,

Experience belongs to the past. experience belongs to the past.

Let those who lack immediacy be silent. Everyone, please be quiet.

Let observers be content to observe. Please do not step out of the bystander’s position.

I am all alone, I’m all alone,

totally, utterly, entirely on my own, all alone in heaven and earth;

gnawing my lips, holding my body rigid, biting my lips quietly,

waiting on inexorable fate. I’ll wait for my own strength I cannot resist.

There is only one truth. Giving birth, in fact,

I shall give birth to a child, is the creation of a single reality

truth driving outward from my inwardness. that explodes from inside me,

Neither good nor bad; real, no sham about it. with no room for good or bad.

With the first labor pains, Now, the first labor pains....

suddenly the sun goes pale. The sun immediately pales,

The indifferent world goes strangely calm. the world coldly quiets down.

I am alone. And I am all alone....

It is alone I am. (Sato)

(Rexroth and Atsumi)

15
男の胸 Man’s Chest

めいこう
名 工 のきたへし刀 A sword a master forged,
一尺に満たぬ短き、 Shorter than a foot,
するどさを我は思ひぬ。 I think of its sharpness.
とつくにびと
あるときは異 国 人 の At times I want urgently
さき
三角の尖 あるメスを To get a triangular-tipped scalpel
え せち
われ得まく切 に願ひぬ。 From someone in a foreign land.
いと憎き男の胸に The instant the gleaming blade
と しらは せつな
利き白刄あてなん刹那、 Touches the chest of the man I hate
わがそで
たらたらと我 袖 にさへ Blood drips down my sleeve,
あか
指にさへ散るべき、紅 き Splatters on my fingers, scarlet,
わ ゑ
血を思ひ、我れほくそ笑み、 Thinking of it I smile to myself,
ふる
こころよく身さへ慄 ふよ。 Even my body trembles pleasantly.
その時か、にくき男の At that moment I’ll forgive
い ゆる
云ひがたき心宥 さめ。 The unspeakable heart of the man I hate.
い
しかは云へ、突かんとすなる Having said this, on his chest
よる
その胸に、夜 としなれば、 I want to stab, come night,
ぬか やす
額 よせて、いとうら安 の I place my brow, feel peace,
い
夢に入る人も我なり。 Entertain dreams, yes, that’s me.
男はた、いとしとばかり And the man, as if he’d missed me,
わ いだ
その胸に我れかき抱 き、 Hugs me tight against his chest
いま
眠ること未 だ忘れず。 And falls asleep, I’ve yet to forget.
け ふ か
その胸を今日は仮さずと Should he say if as a joke
い
たはぶれに云ふことあらば、 I won’t give you my chest today,
わ い か わび
我れ如何に佗 しからまし。 I can imagine how lonely I’d become.

(Sato)

女 The Woman

むち
「鞭 を忘るな」と “Don’t forget a whip,”
い
ヅアラツストラは云ひけり。 Spake Zarathustra.
「女こそ牛なれ、羊なれ。
」 “A woman is a cow, is a sheep.”
つ
附け足して我ぞ云はまし、 I’d add to it and say,
はな
「野に放 てよ」 “Let her loose in the field.”
(Sato)

16
一人称 （明治 44 年） In the First Person (Ichininshō), 1911

一人称にてのみ物書かばや。 I would like to write only in the first person

おなご
われは 女 ぞ。 I am a woman!
一人称にてのみ物書かばや。 I would like to write only in the first person

われは。われは。 I am! I am!

(Mackie)

三十女の心 （大正 4 年） The Heart of a Thirtyish Woman (1915)

さんじふをんな
三 十 女 の心は The heart of a thirtyish woman
か げ けぶり
陰影も、 煙 も、 is a shadowless, smokeless,
かたまり
音も無い火の 塊 、 soundless ball of fire, a crimson sun
ゆふやけ
夕 焼 の空に set against the evening sky,
まっか
一輪真赤な太陽、 unmoving
た てっ
唯だじつと徹 して燃えてゐる。 burning burning burning.
(Beichman)

らいさん In Praise of May (1914)

五月礼賛 （大正 3 年）

May is a fancy month, a flower month

ごぐわつ よ
五月は好い月、花の月、 The month of buds, the month of scents, the month of
か いろ
芽の月、香の月、色の月、 colors,
ポプラ、マロニエ、プラタアヌ、 The month of poplars, marrons, plantanes,
しゃくやく ふぢ すはう
つつじ、 芍 薬 、藤、蘇枋、 Azaleas, tree peonies, wisteria, redbud,
けし
リラ、チユウリツプ、罌粟の月、 Lilacs, tulips, poppies,
女の服のかろがろと The month women’s clothes turn
薄くなる月、恋の月、 Light and thin, the month of love,
まきかんむり
巻 冠 に矢を背負ひ、 The festival month Kyoto residents
あふひ きゃうびと
葵 をかざす 京 人 が In twirled crowns, arrows on their backs,
うまくら まつりづき
馬競べする 祭 月、 Compete in horse races,
パリイ をとめ ら
巴里の街の少女等が The month girls in the City of Paris
うつ
花の祭に美くしい Choose for the Flower Festival

17
あて ぢょわう
貴な女王を選ぶ月、 A beautiful, noble queen;
い
わたしのことを云ふならば If I may speak of myself,
ゆ ドイツ
シベリアを行き、独逸行き、 It’s the month I crossed Siberia, crossed Germany,
君を慕うてはるばると Longing for my love,
つ
その巴里まで著いた月、 And arrived in that distant Paris,6
あやめ た ち のぼり
菖蒲の太刀と 幟 とで The month to celebrate our fourth son,
よなん
去年うまれた四男目の Auguste,7 born last year,
アウギユストをば祝ふ月、 With irises, swords, and streamers,

狭い書斎の窓ごしに The breezy month, the month of

しゅろ
明るい空と棕櫚の木が The blue moon, of platinum-colored clouds,
マレェ おも
馬来の島を想はせる When the bright sky and the hemp palm
そよかぜ
微風の月、青い月、 Outside the window of my small study
プラチナ色の雲の月、 Remind me of a Malay island,
みつばち てふ
蜜蜂の月、蝶の月、 The month of honeybees, the month of butterflies,
あり が かなり や
蟻も蛾となり、金糸雀も The month of birth when ants turn into moths8
いだ うみ
卵を抱く生の月、 And canaries hatch their eggs,
そそ
何やら物に誘られる The sensual month, the month of flesh
官能の月、肉の月、 That somehow incites you,

ヴウヴレエ酒の、香料の、 The month of Vous voulez wine, of perfumes,

をどり がく
踊 の、楽の、歌の月、 Of dances, of music, and of songs,
ばんぶつ
わたしを中に万物が The month of the sun when
もつ
堅く抱きしめ、縺れ合ひ、 Myriad things inside me
うめ
呻き、くちづけ、汗をかく Hold one another tight, become entangled,
あをうみ
太陽の月、青海の、 Moan, kiss, sweat, the month
パルク
森の、公園の、噴水の、 Of the blue sea, of the forest, of the park, of the fountains,
テラス ち ん
庭の、屋前の、離亭の月、 Of the garden, of the terrace, of the gazebo,
ごぐわつ むぎわら
やれ来た、五月、麦藁で So here comes May
こつぶ
細い薄手の硝杯から To toss at us a giddiness
すゐ
レモン水をば吸ふやうな Sweet as the lemonade you suck with a straw
めまひ
あまい眩暈を投げに来た。 From a thin, skinny glass.
(Sato)

6 “Akiko traveled to Europe via Siberia in 1912.” (Sato)

7 “During that period, it was fashionable in certain circles to give European names to children.
The Japanese name of Akiko’s fourth son, born in 1913, was Iku.” (Sato)
8 “Akiko got an entomological fact wrong here.” (Sato)

18
アウギュストの一撃（大正 3 年） Auguste’s Single Strike (1914)

ふたつ か は
二歳になる可愛いいアウギュストよ、 My lovely two-year-old Auguste,
おまへのために書いて置く、 I write this down for you:
け ふ
おまへが今日はじめて Today, for the first time,
ほ
おまへの母の頬を打つたことを。 you struck your mother on the cheek.
それはおまへの命の It was the power of your life
みづか
自 ら勝たうとする力が―― that wanted to win –
純粋な征服の力が the genuine power for conquest
怒りの形と took on the form of anger
けいれん
痙攣の発作とになつて and a spastic fit
でんくわ ひらめ
電火のやうに 閃 いたのだよ。 and flashed like lightning.
おまへは何も意識して居なかつたであらう、 You must have been conscious of nothing,
す
そして直ぐに忘れてしまつたであらう、 must have forgotten it at once.
けれど母は驚いた、 But your mother was shocked,
うれ
またしみじみと嬉しかつた。 was also deeply happy.
たじつ
おまへは、他日、一人の男として、 You can, some day, as a man,
かうぜん
昂然とみづから立つことが出来る、 be on your own defiantly,
を を
清く雄雄しく立つことが出来る、 you can be on your own purely, resolutely,
また思ひ切り人と自然を愛することが出来る、 also can love man and nature decisively
（征服の中枢は愛である、
） (The core of conquest is love),
また疑惑と、苦痛と、死と、 also you can conquer suspicion, pain, and death,
しっと てうば
嫉妬と、卑劣と、嘲罵と、 jealousy, cowardice, derision,
きょくがく
圧制と、 曲 学 と、因襲と、 oppression, crooked learning, conventions,
ぼう ふ じんしゃく うちがつ
暴富と、 人 爵 とに打克つことが出来る。 filthy wealth, and social ranks.
それだ、その純粋な一撃だ、 Yes, that genuine strike,
それがおまへの生涯の全部だ。 that’s the totality of your life.
てのひら
わたしはおまへの 掌 が Such were the premonitions I felt that made me
し し こ
獅子の児のやうに打つた happy
もと
鋭い一撃の痛さの下で under the pain of the sharp blow
い はくきん
かう云ふ白金の予感を覚えて嬉しかつた。 you struck with your palm
そして同時に、おまへと共通の力が as a lion cub might.
ひそ
母自身にも潜んでゐるのを感じて、 At the same time I felt the same power
ほ
わたしはおまへの打つた頬も lurking in myself
打たない頬までも熱くなつた。 and even the cheek you didn’t strike
おまへは何も意識して居なかつたであらう、 became hot like the cheek you did.

19
 You must have been conscious of nothing,
す
そして直ぐに忘れてしまつたであらう。 must have forgotten it at once.
けれど、おまへが大人になつて、 But when you’ve become an adult,
思想する時にも、働く時にも、 take this out and read it,
恋する時にも、戦ふ時にも、 when you think, when you work,
これを取り出してお読み。 when you love someone, when you fight.
ふたつ か は
二歳になる可愛いいアウギユストよ、 My lovely two-year-old Auguste,
おまへのために書いて置く、 I write this down for you:
け ふ
おまへが今日はじめて Today, for the first time,
おまへの母の頬を打つたことを。 you struck your mother on the cheek.

My still more lovely Auguste,

なほ
猶かはいいアウギユストよ、 you, in my womb,
たい
おまへは母の胎に居て walked through Europe, sightseeing.
ヨオロッパ み
欧 羅 巴を観てあるいたんだよ。 As you grow up,
いっしょ
母と一所にしたその旅の記憶を your wisdom will remember
おまへの成人するにつれて the memories of those travels with your
おまへの叡智が思ひ出すであらう。 mother.
ミケル・アンゼロやロダンのしたことも、 What Michelangelo and Rodin did,
ナポレオンやパスツウルのしたことも、 what Napoleon and Pasteur did,
それだ、その純粋な一撃だ、 yes, it was that genuine strike,
たけだけ くわうこつ
その猛猛しい 恍 惚 の一撃だ。 that ferocious, blissful strike.

(Sato)

うすで さかづき もみぢ かげ ゆ

秋は薄手の 杯 か、 園遊会の片隅のいたや 楓 の蔭 を行き、
はいせん な
ちんからりんと杯 洗 に触れて沈むよな虫が啼く。 少し伏目に、まつ白な菊の花壇をじつと見る。
パラソル
秋は妹の日 傘 か、
ひすゐ え とって
きやしやな翡翠の柄の把手、 それから後ろのわたしと顔を見合せて、
きいろ
明るい黄色の日があたる。 「まあ、いい所で」と走り寄り、
や
「どうしてそんなにお痩せだ」と、
にじふ に さ ん いまやう と を くちぶり
さて、また、秋は 廿 二三の今 様 づくり、 十歳の時、別れた姉のやうな口 振 は、
なんど き だけ
青みを帯びたお納戸の著 丈 すらりと、 優しい、優しい秋だこと。
しら ち ゃ ぢ きんし しきしがた からおり まばゆ
白 茶地に金糸の多い色紙形、唐 織 の帯も 眩 く、

20
Autumn

Autumn is a thin wine cup, isn’t it,

Like the one that touches the basin and sinks tinkling in insect cries.

Autumn is Younger Sister’s parasol, isn’t it,

Its delicate handle made of jade,

The bright, yellow sun shining on it.

Or else, autumn is a twenty-three-year-old in modern style.

Dressed in bluish gray indigo and svelte,

Against a light-brown ground, with many golden threads, and square, her China-woven sash

dazzling,

In a corner of a park she passes the shadow of a tall maple,

Her eyes a little downcast, she intently looks at a display of snow-white chrysanthemums.

She then turns and catches my eye.

“My, so good to see you,” she hurries to me.

“How come you’ve become so skinny,” says she

As my older sister might who was separated when ten years old,

What a gentle, gentle, autumn this!

(Sato)

21
Bibliography

(Beichman)

Rimer, J. Thomas and Van C. Gessel, eds. (2005). The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese

Literature, Volume 1: From Restoration to Occupation, 1868-1945. New York: Columbia Univ.
Press.

(Bownas and Thwaite)

Bownas, Geoffrey and Anthony Thwaite, trans. & eds. (2009). The Penguin Book of Japanese Verse,
Revised Edition. London: Penguin Books.

(Mackie)

Mackie, Vera (1995). “Liberation and Light: The Language of Opposition in Imperial Japan.” East
Asian History No. 9 (June 1995), pp.121-142.

(Rexroth and Atsumi)

Rexroth, Kenneth and Ikuko Atsumi, trans. & eds. (1977). Women Poets of Japan. New York: New
Directions.

(Rodd)

Rodd, Laurel Rasplica (1991). “Yosano Akiko and the Taishō debate over the ‘New Women’” In Gail

Lee Bernstein, ed., Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945. Berkeley: Univ. of California
Press, p. 180.

(Sakanishi)

Keene, Donald, ed. (1956). Modern Japanese Literature from 1868 to Present Day. Rutland,
Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company.

(Sato)

Sato, Hiroaki (2008). Japanese Women Poets: An Anthology. Armonk, NY and London, England:
M.E. Sharpe.

(Watson and Sato)

Watson, Burton and Hiroaki Sato, trans. & eds. (1987). From the Country of Eight Islands: An

Anthology of Japanese Poetry. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.

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