A Solace
I.
High hills we climb
Till my coat is worn,
“To the end of time,
We’ll never be torn.”
Her pleading I hear
In my heart, in tears.
II.
I caress the threads,
Of the coat she wove,
I’ll wear forever
Wherever—in snow.
Poet’s Note: Inspired from a waka poem from the The Tales of Ise, Chapter 9. I have retained the original wordplay in English. I. “is worn” with “sworn”, II. “wherever” with “wear” forever.
Yoshikaze Kawakami studied classical Japanese literature in Tokyo. He has published translations of Noh theatre in Poetry and Wordplay in Noh Theatre.
Yoshikaze, the simplicity of your poem is breathtaking! And the pairing of melancholy with nature’s austerity is so effective. You could teach me more, but this seems common in traditional Japanese poetry; I’m thinking of Ryokan and Basho. Thank you for sharing this wonderful poem.
Short, simple and full of poignancy and emotion.
Thanks for the read, Yoshikaze.
Lovely lines, Yoshikaze-san. Thanks for pointing out the wordplay. I notice you render each line of the Japanese poem with two in English, changing Japanese syllabic conventions to the English of equal length lines with rhyme. It’s done very nicely to preserve the sense of saying much with few words, and revealing the unusually profound emotion expressed in this particular lyric.
Here, less is more, a principle to which I seldom subscribe. Unless, that is, much has been accomplished with minimal verbiage.
What I find striking about the second piece is that in spite of its minimalism, it evokes strong emotion.
These are beautiful in their sparseness, an unmistakably Japanese aesthetic, inviting the reader to infer the unsaid, reminiscent of William Carlos Williams — yet it maintains form and rhyme. Wonderful.
a beautiful poem!
as delicate as a snowflake!