About this work
Poems on winter, bodily frailty, love and impermanence are accompanied by responses to Saito Mokichi and reference poems by Yosano Akiko. This English version is an editorial translation for access; the Japanese text remains available alongside it for comparison.
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日本語原文 Japanese original
濱野成秋
早春に生きがひを求められ
まどろみの長き褥の朝ぼらけ
斑ら雪視ゆ現もの憂し 成秋
厳寒に迷ひ出でて
人知れず氷柱立つ視ゆ天竺の
仏の世より垂れる雫か 成秋
茂吉の病身を吾ことの如く思いを馳せ
歯科医より帰りし吾は夕まぐれ
鬱々として雪の道ありく
（茂吉『白き山』より）
現身のわが歯朽ちをり山野辺の
傾く雪棚黙々と歩く
（成秋、本歌取り）
うぐひすの声は哀しも紅竹の
恋ゆる女子あり病める稚児あり 成秋
昔日の海女の家を訪ね歩きたるが
過ぎ去りし海辺の風や海女の家
ここら哀しも足跡もなく 成秋
この生への執着を思い煩ひて
この生おぼろ入寂なむひと歳を
超へて伏す身の耐え難かりき 成秋
老ひても君を忘れじと茂吉は詠めり
老びととなりてゆたけき君ゆゑに
われは恋しよはるかなりとも （茂吉）
老人となりてもはべらめ君の許
乞ひ木枯しや狂へるがゆへ （成秋本歌取り）
いつの世も変はらぬものもなくもがな
すり減るこころ朽ちる肉體 成秋
（参考）
今はゆかむさらばと云ひし夜の神の
御裾さはりてわが髪ぬれぬ 晶子
ひとまおきてをりをりもれし君がいき
その夜しら梅だくと夢みし 晶子
（No.1928は以上）
English translation 英訳
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
Seishu Hamano
Seeking life in early spring
The long slumber of the bed, the dawn's pale light
The spots on the skin, the snow's gaze, the world's sorrow
Seishu Hamano
Lost in the severe cold
The ice pillars stand unseen, the view of the heavenly land
Are they the tears from the Buddha's world?
Seishu Hamano
Thinking of the sick body of Mokichi as if it were my own
Returning from the dentist, I walk in the evening dusk
In a gloomy mood, there is a path of snow
(From Mokichi's "White Mountain")
The body's decay, the teeth's rot, the mountain's edge
The snow shelf tilts, and I walk silently
Seishu Hamano, the song of the night's maiden
The voice of the uguhishu is sad, the red bamboo reeds
The girl who loves, the child who is sick
Seishu Hamano
Walking to visit the home of the sea nymphs of old
The wind and the home of the sea nymphs of the past
Here, there is no trace, only sorrow
Seishu Hamano
Thinking of my attachment to this life
This life's end, the faint light of death, a single year
I cannot bear to surpass it, to bow down
Seishu Hamano
Even when old, Mokichi sings of not forgetting you
Old, and yet you are the reason for my joy
I love you, even if I am young
(Mokichi)
Even when old, I will remain by your side
I beg, the tree withered, I go mad for your sake
(Seishu Hamano, the song of the main verse)
The saying is that all things are impermanent
No age remains unchanged, I lament
The worn heart, the decaying body
Seishu Hamano
(Reference)
Now, the night's god says, "Farewell, I go"
His hem touches my hair, it does not dry
Akiko
The night when you were born, the night when you were born
In that night, the white plum blossoms, I dreamed
Akiko
(No. 1928 is above)
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.