About this work
Spring buds waiting to open are imagined as a ballerina poised in the wings before her first entrance. The poem joins the patient preparation of winter to the expectancy, tension, and joy of performance.
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
すべてが目覚め心弾むよ
花の香りが辺りを漂わせ
景色は色鮮やかに明るく華やか
冬の寒さの中でも下準備している。
硬いつぼみが一気にほころんで
今にも咲く時を待つ
それは初舞台の幕のわきで
出番を待つバレリーナのよう。
期待と不安に緊張しながら
ずっと練習してようやく本番
ポーズをとって待っている
煌めく世界へと、さあ、いま咲くよ！
夢では終わらない
春はバレーの幕開けみたいに
踊りだし歌いながら歓喜に満ちる
春の心は花びら巻いて踊り舞う。
English translation 英訳
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
Everything awakens, and the heart begins to dance.
The fragrance of flowers drifts through the air;
the landscape grows bright, vivid, and splendid.
Even in winter’s cold, preparations have been under way.
Hard buds loosen all at once,
waiting for the moment they can bloom.
They are like a ballerina in the wings,
waiting to make her first entrance.
Tense with expectation and unease,
after so much practice, the performance is here at last.
Holding her pose, she waits—
now, into the glittering world: bloom!
This will not end as a dream.
Spring is like the opening of a ballet:
it dances out, singing, filled with joy;
the heart of spring wraps itself in petals and whirls in dance.
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.