Poem
Mitsuharu Kaneko
The Lighthouse
You must not peer into the sky’s depths.In the sky’s depths
gods are jostling one another like white-eyes.
Drifting in the candy-like ether,
an angel’s armpit hair.
A hawk’s feathers.
The smell of the gods’ skin as fierce as bronze burning. The scale. (1)
You must not stare at the sky’s depths.
Your eyes would be burned and crushed by the light.
That which comes down from the sky’s depths is the power that encompasses
eternity.
The punishment
for those who go against the sky.
Only devout souls ascend.
Standing erect in the mist of the sky,
a single white candle.
—the lighthouse.
© Translation: 2008, Hiroaki Sato
This is the first of a set of three poems.
(1) The Chinese character used here means \'balance\' or \'scale\', but the ruby reading, denoted by the Japanese phonetic symbols alongside it, is given as \'kankan\', making the meaning uncertain.
燈台 一
燈台 一
そらのふかさをのぞいてはいけない。そらのふかさには、
神さまたちがめじろおししてゐる。
飴のやうなエーテルにたゞよふ、
天使の脇毛。
鷹のぬけ毛。
青銅(からかね)の灼けるやうな凄じい神さまたちのはだのにほひ。
秤(かんかん)。
そらのふかさをみつめてはいけない。
その眼はひかりでやきつぶされる。
そらのふかさからおりてくるものは、永劫にわたる
権力だ。
そらにさからふものへの
刑罰だ。
信心深いたましひだけがのぼる
そらのまんなかにつったった、
いっぽんのしろい蝋燭。
——燈台。
© 1937, Mitsuharu Kaneko
From: Same (Sharks)
Publisher: Jinnminnsha, Tokyo
From: Same (Sharks)
Publisher: Jinnminnsha, Tokyo
Poems
Poems of Mitsuharu Kaneko
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The Lighthouse
You must not peer into the sky’s depths.In the sky’s depths
gods are jostling one another like white-eyes.
Drifting in the candy-like ether,
an angel’s armpit hair.
A hawk’s feathers.
The smell of the gods’ skin as fierce as bronze burning. The scale. (1)
You must not stare at the sky’s depths.
Your eyes would be burned and crushed by the light.
That which comes down from the sky’s depths is the power that encompasses
eternity.
The punishment
for those who go against the sky.
Only devout souls ascend.
Standing erect in the mist of the sky,
a single white candle.
—the lighthouse.
© 2008, Hiroaki Sato
From: Same (Sharks)
From: Same (Sharks)
The Lighthouse
You must not peer into the sky’s depths.In the sky’s depths
gods are jostling one another like white-eyes.
Drifting in the candy-like ether,
an angel’s armpit hair.
A hawk’s feathers.
The smell of the gods’ skin as fierce as bronze burning. The scale. (1)
You must not stare at the sky’s depths.
Your eyes would be burned and crushed by the light.
That which comes down from the sky’s depths is the power that encompasses
eternity.
The punishment
for those who go against the sky.
Only devout souls ascend.
Standing erect in the mist of the sky,
a single white candle.
—the lighthouse.
© 2008, Hiroaki Sato
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