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Song of the Heron

by Ueda Bin (after the French of Emile Verhaeren)
translated from Japanese by Yoshikaze Kawakami

By the bleak golden waters,
Where the water lilies bloom,
The heron slowly hovers,
And sends its shade of gloom.

The shadows on the pond
Are spread like robes and sleeves,
And skyward trail beyond
While fluttering as they please.

The fisher in his art
Still casts his net and waits,
Heeds not the birds that dart,
Those wings that spread and skate,

Nor cares by day and night—
His net in muddy streams—
A boring sinking plight
Beneath what flies and gleams.

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Poet’s Note: Ueda Bin (1874-1916) was a poet and professor of English at the then Kyoto Imperial University, Japan. The “Song of the Heron” was a translation of “Parabole” by Belgian poet Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916). I have presented Ueda Bin’s version, which was composed in the traditional 5-7 syllables structure, rich in alliteration, from the Japanese.

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Original Japanese

Saki no Uta

Fonoguraki kogane komorinu,
Kaufoné no shiroku sakeruni,
Shizukanaru sagi no fakazé fa
Omomuro ni kagé wo otoshinu.

Mizu no omo ni kagé fa tadayofi,
Firogorité, koromo ni nitari.
Ame naruya, tori no kayoidi,
Fabataki no oto mo taédaé.

Sunadori no ito sakashira ni
Kiyoranaru ami wo utédomo,
Sora kakéru kushiki tsubasa no
Otonafi wo yumé dani shirazu.

Mata shirazu fi ni yo wo tsugité
Mizo no uchi dorotsuchi no soko
Utsuiu no ami ni matsu mono
Fisakata no fikari ni tobu wo.

ほのぐらき黄金隠沼、
骨蓬の白くさけるに、
静かなる鷺の羽風は
徐に影を落しぬ。

水の面に影は漂ひ、
広ごりて、ころもに似たり。
天なるや、鳥の通路、
羽ばたきの音もたえだえ。

漁子のいと賢しらに
清らなる網をうてども、
空翔ける奇しき翼の
おとなひをゆめだにしらず。

また知らず日に夜をつぎて
溝のうち泥土の底
鬱憂の網に待つもの
久方の光に飛ぶを。

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Yoshikaze Kawakami studied classical Japanese literature in Tokyo. He has published translations of Noh theatre in Poetry and Wordplay in Noh Theatre.

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6 Responses

  1. Daniel Howard

    I remember that another poet here once provided a voice recording of his or her poem – it would be lovely to hear the original composition spoken in your fluent Japenese. It looks like it is rich in alliteration, like your translation.

    Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    This must be a most worthy translation reflecting also the Japanese penchant for nature. You have chosen your rhyming words wisely and your translation of the poem flows which is never an easy thing to do with translating into English, let along the original was translated from the French. Thank you for this treat.

    Reply
  3. Cynthia L Erlandson

    I love the way you’ve described the heron’s “shade of gloom” as robe-shaped shadows with sleeves on the pond, and also the contrast you paint between the land-bound fisherman and the gleaming, flying herons.

    Reply
  4. Paul A. Freeman

    Some of my dad’s koi fish got nailed by a heron. His response wasn’t as poetic as yours, Yoshikaze. Some great imagery, here.

    Thanks for the read.

    Reply
  5. Adam Sedia

    This is a beautifully lyric piece, but also interesting on so many levels. Despite the beauty of its language and imagery, this really is a dark poem. The waters are “bleak” and the graceful heron casts a shadow.

    From your background information, it looks like this is a translation of a translation. I don’t know what the original Verhaeren was like (in French or Dutch?). The Japanese uses 12-syllable lines – perhaps imitating French Alexandrines or adapting a traditionally Japanese form borrowed from China. You’ve done well to preserve the quatrains, and the rhyme you add heightens the musicality of the piece.

    In every way, this poem shows how eastern and western poetic traditions are not that foreign to each other.

    Reply
  6. Margaret Coats

    This is a fascinating poem of reflection: the heron above with his song, and the fisherman below with the net which is his art. The heron too is a fisher, as we can imagine his “hovering gloom” above the prey in the water. Yet the heron clearly appears more admirable in flight and in the “gleams” chosen as the final word of the English poem. The contrast to “gloom” is striking, and the “skyward” direction makes the distinction!

    Reply

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