First Day of Winter
Written by: Ryōshū
Translated by: Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda
Published in: Free Verse Poetry Volume 1
Select Translation
- ENGLISH
- JAPANESE
When we stand still
Inside the quiet gray
Of the Rockies—
Not a single sound
Breaks the silence
The canal that long ago meandered
Here through the plains of Heart Mountain
Has run dry
The cry of the insects
That used to sound in the tall grass—
Where are they now?
The hills roll on
Like the backs of the water buffalo
Desolate
As an invalid
As a dead man—
Long, long ago
Here in the plains of Heart Mountain
Like a sudden burst of wind
Like an apparition
The American Indian—
His headdress taking shape
As he races his horse
Across the wild plains
Take heart! Take heart!
Though the land now is buried in snow
Though now is the time for a long hibernation
The spring will come again—
Take heart! Hold on—
Didn’t the cricket
As long as it had life
Sing the brief autumn
Till it perished?
Pray, pray
For the swift arrival
Of a new spring dawn
1 The title, First Day of Winter, likely had the additional meaning of a season of discontent having begun for Japanese Americans
About the Heart Mountain Bungei
What is the Heart Mountain Bungei? Learn about the story behind the poetry and prose of the collection, and the process of translating and interpreting the Bungei.