About this work
Love is imagined as a marsh that draws the speaker down more deeply the harder she struggles. Her final declaration affirms the love and trust that the other person may never understand.
Parallel reading
日本語と英語で読む
Read the Japanese original and its English translation together. On smaller screens, each language follows in sequence.
日本語原文 Japanese original
恋沼にわが身は沈む
誰の助けもなく沈んでいく
ゆっくりとゆっくりと
もがけばもがくほど成す術もなく
口元まで沈んだ時
最後の一言を笑って言うわ
「ほら・・・見て！これが、わたしの愛、あなたを信じた姿よ」とね
でも、あなたは知る由もない
English translation 英訳
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
Into love’s quagmire my body sinks.
With no one to help me, I go under,
slowly, slowly.
The harder I struggle, the more helpless I become.
When I have sunk to my lips,
I will smile and speak one final line:
“Look... see! This is my love—
this is what it looks like to believe in you.”
But you will never know.
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.