Poem
Shuntaro Tanikawa
anonym 1
If I stay silentI must say I am silent
If I cannot write
I must write that I cannot write
That’s the spirit
However drained I feel
I am a man
not by virtue of a single tree
not by virtue of a single bird
only by virtue of a single word
I do not hope to have you give me an answer
You can simply lean on a chair
You can simply rely on the mass of men
But I will give my own answer
to the light that is about to dissolve into the woods
to the scream I could not hear, to silence
© Translation: 2011, Takako Lento
From: The Art of Being Alone: Poems 1952–2009
Publisher: Cornell Univ. East Asia Program, , 2011
From: The Art of Being Alone: Poems 1952–2009
Publisher: Cornell Univ. East Asia Program, , 2011
anonym 1
anonym 1
黙っているのなら黙っていると言わねばならない
書けないのなら
書けないと書かねばならない
そこにしか精神はない
たとえどんなに疲れていようと
一本の樹によらず
一語によって私は人
君に答えて貰おうとは思わない
君はただ椅子に凭れ
君はただ衆を恃め
けれど私は答えるだろう
いま雑木林に消えてゆく光に
聞き得ぬ悲鳴 その静けさに
© 1968, Shuntaro Tanikawa
From: Tabi (Journey)
Publisher: Kyuryudo, Tokyo
From: Tabi (Journey)
Publisher: Kyuryudo, Tokyo
Poems
Poems of Shuntaro Tanikawa
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anonym 1
If I stay silentI must say I am silent
If I cannot write
I must write that I cannot write
That’s the spirit
However drained I feel
I am a man
not by virtue of a single tree
not by virtue of a single bird
only by virtue of a single word
I do not hope to have you give me an answer
You can simply lean on a chair
You can simply rely on the mass of men
But I will give my own answer
to the light that is about to dissolve into the woods
to the scream I could not hear, to silence
© 2011, Takako Lento
From: The Art of Being Alone: Poems 1952–2009
Publisher: 2011, Cornell Univ. East Asia Program, Tokyo
From: The Art of Being Alone: Poems 1952–2009
Publisher: 2011, Cornell Univ. East Asia Program, Tokyo
anonym 1
If I stay silentI must say I am silent
If I cannot write
I must write that I cannot write
That’s the spirit
However drained I feel
I am a man
not by virtue of a single tree
not by virtue of a single bird
only by virtue of a single word
I do not hope to have you give me an answer
You can simply lean on a chair
You can simply rely on the mass of men
But I will give my own answer
to the light that is about to dissolve into the woods
to the scream I could not hear, to silence
© 2011, Takako Lento
From: The Art of Being Alone: Poems 1952–2009
Publisher: 2011, Cornell Univ. East Asia Program,
From: The Art of Being Alone: Poems 1952–2009
Publisher: 2011, Cornell Univ. East Asia Program,
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