About this work
The sea becomes an image of unreturned love: the speaker sinks alone while continuing to pray for the beloved. Becoming a shell suggests both enclosure and the lasting form taken by that love.
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
恐れも知らずに、この恋に飛び込んだ
未熟にも愛の海に溺れた私
たったひとり沈みゆく海の底
ゆっくりと、ゆっくりと沈む
報われることもない
哀しく泣きながら
愛の海に沈んでいく
それでもなお貴方を祈り
潔く微笑んでみせるのよ
貝になる日まで
これでいいと自分に呟く
貝になった私の愛
English translation 英訳
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
Without knowing fear, I plunged into this love.
Immature as I was, I drowned in the sea of love.
Alone, I sink toward the seabed,
slowly, slowly sinking,
with no hope that my love will be returned,
weeping in sorrow.
I sink into the sea of love.
Even so, I still pray for you
and show you a brave smile.
Until the day I become a shell,
I whisper to myself, “This is enough.”
My love, turned into a shell.
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.