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Tanka by Kisaburo Konoshima
newly translated by David Callner*
This is the seventh in a series of new translations of selected
tanka by Kisaburo Konoshima
(1893-1984).
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1963
髯剃れば白毛と皺と意地っぱりと在米四十八年の顔が鏡に写る
As I shave I see a face - grizzled wrinkled and obstinate
forty-eight years in America - in the mirror |
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たてつけよき我が住居にて内にこもる我が体臭は鼻持ならぬ
Lingering about my snug abode
my body odor stinks |
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眼をふせてものを想へば我とわが三界をみる心の底に
Gazing downwards in thought I see myself
my past present and future - at the bottom of my soul |
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酔ひしれし経験のなき我を省みつ秋夜さむざむと独り酒くむ
"Once I had never been fuddled"
I drink with a chill in my heart this autumn night |
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クリスマスイーブ只ゆきずりに語らひし彼氏も生くるならん地の何処にか
The guy I spoke with in passing on Christmas Eve
Is he alive somewhere? |
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風速三十哩ハドソンは一夜の中に銀河と変り
Winds of thirty miles an hour - the Hudson
becomes a galaxy overnight
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ハドソンを覆ふ浮氷は陽をはじき徐々に逆流す意思持つ如く
Ice on the Hudson reflects the sun
and gradually flows backward as with a mind of its own |
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夜半に起きて独り酒汲む我癖を老妻近時しきりにいとふ
Lately my aged wife constantly grows upset
with my habit of rising at midnight to drink sake |
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我も識る不摂生を老妻に詰られてわざと不機嫌に盃を含む
Reproached by my aged wife for indeed neglecting my health
I aggressively hold a sake cup to my mouth |
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とりどりに咲く花はいろ鮮明に緑いや濃きホノルルの街
Diverse blossoms vividly colored
in how deep a green - Honolulu |
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サラサラと葉摺かなでてココヤシは月に映えつつそよ風に踊り
Accompanied by its rustling leaves the coconut palm
shines in the moonlight - dancing with a gentle breeze |
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椰子の葉摺雨かとまどひ窓押せば碧空高く月白く冴え
Palm leaves rustle - rain? - I open the window
high in an azure sky the moon is white and clear |
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光増し数をましゆく星をかぞへ仰臥するワイキキの浜風涼し
The lights grow brighter and their numbers multiply - I lie counting stars
a cool breeze crosses Waikiki beach |
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緑樹覆ふ街をへだてて紫紺なす大洋横はり入道雲むらだつ
Bluish-purple ocean divides the verdant town
a thunderhead is swelling |
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盛夏を巷に出れど汗を知らずホノルルは真に洋上の楽園
Outside in midsummer yet one never sweats
Honolulu is a floating paradise |
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叢立てる白雲の厳窟下に見て碧空一路太平洋を越ゆ
Crags of white cloud rise in clusters below
as I cross the Pacific straight through an azure sky |
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ローマンスカー新婦無邪気にスヤスヤと新夫の肩に顔寄せて眠り
In the "Romance Car" a bride - innocent and peaceful
rests her head on her groom's shoulder and sleeps
(The "Romance Car" is the name of the express train on the Odakyu
Line in Japan. D.C.) |
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通り過ぐる雲間霧間に富士の嶺じらすが如く麗姿を見せて
A break in the mist and the clouds scudding by
Fuji reveals her lovely figure teasingly |
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瀬の音に目覚めて居れば河鹿鳴き蛍かすかに窓をよぎりぬ
I am awake with the sound of the rapids - frogs are croaking
fireflies pass dimly by my window |
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釣れでよし釣れて尚よし鮎つると四間竿もて奔流にいどむ
Fine if I don't - better yet if I do
long pole in hand I set out for the rapids to catch ayu |
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囲み佇つ顔顔赭くてり映えて四囲みな暗くキャンプファイアー燃ゆ
Red faces glow in a circle
those beyond are dark - the campfire blazes |
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*Readers who have enjoyed this series of tanka translations may now add
them to their personal libraries in the perfect bound, 136 page book:
Hudson: A Collection of Tanka by Kisaburo Konoshima
Translated into English by David Callner
Tokyo, Japan: Japan Times, 2005.
ISBN 4-7890-1179-8 |
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David Callner was born in 1956. His youth was spent in France, England, Italy, and America. Since 1978 he has lived in Japan. He has written four novels. He teaches English as an adjunct at Nagano University.
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Copyright 2007: Simply Haiku
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