Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Mitsuharu Kaneko

Evening

White rocks, multitudinous wharf roaches scatter.
It’s a lonely, darkening shore.
. . . In the offing, a heavy stone mortar is being ground, grinding.

Straight rain unto dry seashells, black codiums, corroded anchors. . . . 
Ah, becoming soaked, I sat at a sea corner,
and let the negligence of my life be washed!
It’s an ancient soul. The sea!        

What’s lonely is the evening,
the abyss around me, the battles of waves  
. . . Far off, at the tip of sleet-hued tides,
on a branch where great kelps cross,    
stands a seahorse, darkening.

白い岩、夥しい船虫が散る。
くれてゆく淋しい磯だ。
……沖で、重い石臼をごろんごろんひいてゐる。

かわいた貝殻、黒海松(みる)、しょう錨に真っ直ぐな雨……。
あゝ、私は、濡れてゆくまゝに、海角に腰を掛け、
我生の怠りを洗はせた!
旧い魂だよ。海!

侘しいものは夕、
みのまはりの奈落、波の闘
……遠く、みぞれ色の潮先で
大葉藻(あまも)の交叉した枝に
竜の落子が立つたまゝ暮れてゆく。
Close

Evening

White rocks, multitudinous wharf roaches scatter.
It’s a lonely, darkening shore.
. . . In the offing, a heavy stone mortar is being ground, grinding.

Straight rain unto dry seashells, black codiums, corroded anchors. . . . 
Ah, becoming soaked, I sat at a sea corner,
and let the negligence of my life be washed!
It’s an ancient soul. The sea!        

What’s lonely is the evening,
the abyss around me, the battles of waves  
. . . Far off, at the tip of sleet-hued tides,
on a branch where great kelps cross,    
stands a seahorse, darkening.

Evening

White rocks, multitudinous wharf roaches scatter.
It’s a lonely, darkening shore.
. . . In the offing, a heavy stone mortar is being ground, grinding.

Straight rain unto dry seashells, black codiums, corroded anchors. . . . 
Ah, becoming soaked, I sat at a sea corner,
and let the negligence of my life be washed!
It’s an ancient soul. The sea!        

What’s lonely is the evening,
the abyss around me, the battles of waves  
. . . Far off, at the tip of sleet-hued tides,
on a branch where great kelps cross,    
stands a seahorse, darkening.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère