Poem
Shuntaro Tanikawa
I am me, myself
I know who I amI am here now
but I may be gone in an instant
even if I am no longer here I am me, myself
but in truth I do not have to be me
I am a plant at least a little
I may be a fish more or less
I am also an ore with a dull sheen
though I don’t know its name
and of course I am almost you
Because I cannot disappear after being forgotten
I am a rhythm in a refrain
I am a subtle wave and a particle
having arrived, if I may be so conceited,
riding on your heart’s beating rhythm
from the light years of distance
I know who I am
so I know who you are
even if I don’t know your name
even if there is no census record
I am crowding out into you
Feeling happy being wet in rain
feeling at home with the starry sky
cackling at crude jokes
I am me
beyond the tautology of “I am me”
© 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
私は私
私は私
私は自分が誰か知っていますいま私はここにいますが
すぐにいなくなるかもしれません
いなくなっても私は私ですが
ほんとは私は私でなくてもいいのです
私は少々草です
多分多少は魚かもしれず
名前は分かりませんが
鈍く輝く鉱石でもあります
そしてもちろん私はほとんどあなたです
忘れられたあとも消え去ることができないので
私は繰り返される旋律です
憚りながらあなたの心臓のビートに乗って
光年のかなたからやって来た
かすかな波動で粒子です
私は自分が誰か知っています
だからあなたが誰かも知っています
たとえ名前は知らなくても
たとえどこにも戸籍がなくても
私はあなたへとはみ出していきます
雨に濡れるのを喜び
星空を懐かしみ
下手な冗談に笑いころげ
「私は私」というトートロジーを超えて
私は私です
© 2007, Shuntaro Tanikawa
From: Watashi (I Myself)
Publisher: Shichosha, Tokyo
From: Watashi (I Myself)
Publisher: Shichosha, Tokyo
Poems
Poems of Shuntaro Tanikawa
Close
I am me, myself
I know who I amI am here now
but I may be gone in an instant
even if I am no longer here I am me, myself
but in truth I do not have to be me
I am a plant at least a little
I may be a fish more or less
I am also an ore with a dull sheen
though I don’t know its name
and of course I am almost you
Because I cannot disappear after being forgotten
I am a rhythm in a refrain
I am a subtle wave and a particle
having arrived, if I may be so conceited,
riding on your heart’s beating rhythm
from the light years of distance
I know who I am
so I know who you are
even if I don’t know your name
even if there is no census record
I am crowding out into you
Feeling happy being wet in rain
feeling at home with the starry sky
cackling at crude jokes
I am me
beyond the tautology of “I am me”
© 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
I am me, myself
I know who I amI am here now
but I may be gone in an instant
even if I am no longer here I am me, myself
but in truth I do not have to be me
I am a plant at least a little
I may be a fish more or less
I am also an ore with a dull sheen
though I don’t know its name
and of course I am almost you
Because I cannot disappear after being forgotten
I am a rhythm in a refrain
I am a subtle wave and a particle
having arrived, if I may be so conceited,
riding on your heart’s beating rhythm
from the light years of distance
I know who I am
so I know who you are
even if I don’t know your name
even if there is no census record
I am crowding out into you
Feeling happy being wet in rain
feeling at home with the starry sky
cackling at crude jokes
I am me
beyond the tautology of “I am me”
© 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,
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère