Tanka Translation 98: Osamu Kimata

98 Osamu Kimata（木俣　修）

車輌ひく馬に沿ひ歩む兵隊が寒夜（さむよ）の舗道（ほだう）に歌ひだしたり　

sharyô hiku uma ni soi ayumu heitai ga samuyo no hodô ni utaidashitari

a soldier walks along

a horse pulling a cart

he starts singing on the pavement

of a cold night

 

行春（ゆくはる）をかなしみあへず若きらは黒き帽子を空に投げあぐ

yuku haru o kanashimiaezu wakakira wa kuroki bôshi o sora ni nageagu

                                failing to share

                                sorrow of a departing spring

                                my young students throw

                                their black caps to the sky

起ちても涛（なみ）かがみても涛どうしやうもなくて見てゐる高志（こし）の冬涛

tachitemo nami kagamitemo nami dôshiyômonakute miteiru koshi no fuyu-nami

                                waves… when I stand up

                                waves… when I bend down

                                with no choice I watch

                                winter waves in Niigata

from “Gendai Tanka No Kansho 101” (Appreciation of Contemporary Tanka 101) edited by Ken Kodaka, Shinshokan, 1999, Tokyo, Japan