Three Women Poets of Modern Japan/Akiko Yosano
Akiko Yosano
Akiko Yosano is considered by many critics the most gifted woman poet of modern Japan. Originality and versatility are her most marked characteristics. Her husband, Tetsukan Yosano, is also a poet of distinction, and they are both looked upon as leaders in the new poetry. They have written poems of Occidental form, but the larger portion of their work has been in the standard Japanese form, the tanka. All the poems used in this collection to represent Mrs. Yosano are tanka.
Akiko Yosano
1
There are numberless steps
Up to my heart.
He climbed perhaps two or three.
Up to my heart.
He climbed perhaps two or three.
2
Come to see me
On the day of my discontent,
For that is the neighbor-day of infinite love.
On the day of my discontent,
For that is the neighbor-day of infinite love.
3
I will not be a shelf in a hothouse
With flowers sleeping on it
All the year.
With flowers sleeping on it
All the year.
4
Ten red dragon-flies
Blown by the wind
Make a turning wheel
Within my garden hedge.
Blown by the wind
Make a turning wheel
Within my garden hedge.
5
A wave of coldness
Passes between us,
And the distance of a foot
Becomes a thousand miles.
Passes between us,
And the distance of a foot
Becomes a thousand miles.
6
Like my heart,
Which is waiting for you,
This bouquet of flowers will wither
Before tonight has passed.
Which is waiting for you,
This bouquet of flowers will wither
Before tonight has passed.
7
There is another
Besides myself
To weep for him—
That is my bitterness.
Besides myself
To weep for him—
That is my bitterness.
8
Five piles standing in the river,
Five crows sitting on the piles—
It is maddening!
Five crows sitting on the piles—
It is maddening!
9
Like five moving fingers
Men are rowing
Upon the morning sea.
Men are rowing
Upon the morning sea.
10
Strange
That you should make two of love
When I make one.
That you should make two of love
When I make one.
11
Out of the dear dark years
Of my past
Shines one rose-colored light
From my twentieth year.
Of my past
Shines one rose-colored light
From my twentieth year.
12
As I am unhappy
And feel myself becoming a coward,
I may marry you
After all.
And feel myself becoming a coward,
I may marry you
After all.
13
Here is a little girl
Worrying over her yesterdays
As though they were love-letters
Carelessly written.
Worrying over her yesterdays
As though they were love-letters
Carelessly written.
14
So strong was your wooing!
It was as though you beat upon my heart
With a hammer of stone.
It was as though you beat upon my heart
With a hammer of stone.
15
The white iris
And the purple iris
Grow side by side in the pond,
Yet never open their hearts
To each other.
And the purple iris
Grow side by side in the pond,
Yet never open their hearts
To each other.
16
Аt parting
I spoke
By pressing hard with my fingertips
On what was nearest me.
I spoke
By pressing hard with my fingertips
On what was nearest me.
17
The worries of women
Existed
Even before this troubled age.
Existed
Even before this troubled age.
18
Now has come the night
When dew falls.
Who is weeping?
When dew falls.
Who is weeping?
19
I saw a young girl,
Naked,
Steering a boat
Across an open sea.
It was only the moon of a summer night.
Naked,
Steering a boat
Across an open sea.
It was only the moon of a summer night.
20
At last the rains of autumn
Have made it possible
For us to speak heart to heart.
Have made it possible
For us to speak heart to heart.
21
At dawn
The pink clouds,
Like hundreds of crabs,
Creep from the hollows of heaven.
The pink clouds,
Like hundreds of crabs,
Creep from the hollows of heaven.
22
Our home is filled
With lonely struggles:
You beat yourself,
And I beat myself.
With lonely struggles:
You beat yourself,
And I beat myself.
23
A flag upon the castle
Waves strangely.
The August wind
Brings showers.
Waves strangely.
The August wind
Brings showers.
24
This evening
A mad wind blows in the sky.
The wind in the sea-grass
Whispers to my hair.
A mad wind blows in the sky.
The wind in the sea-grass
Whispers to my hair.
25
A foot of green thread
In a needle
Moves gently,
Stirred by the autumn wind.
In a needle
Moves gently,
Stirred by the autumn wind.
26
My eyes,
That have been buried in sleep
In my arms,
Awaken
And are beautiful.
That have been buried in sleep
In my arms,
Awaken
And are beautiful.
27
My old self
Whispers from behind me:
“There is danger ahead!”
My young self cries:
“On! On!”
Whispers from behind me:
“There is danger ahead!”
My young self cries:
“On! On!”
28
The castle built in air
By my foolish heart
Crumbles and falls.
I thrill with happiness
To hear its shattering sound.
By my foolish heart
Crumbles and falls.
I thrill with happiness
To hear its shattering sound.
29
You are not lonely,
I suppose,
You who moralize
And have never felt the warm blood of young flesh!
I suppose,
You who moralize
And have never felt the warm blood of young flesh!
30
Feeling that you were waiting for me,
I went out into the flowering fields
And found—the new moon.
I went out into the flowering fields
And found—the new moon.