In my heart,
Laying tiny spotted eggs,
Which remained there
In the very depths of my heart
Where not a wind blows
And not a drop of rainfalls.
They softly sounded against each other
When my heart ached,
And stirred in the narrow space.
Ah, it was the day
I stood on the volcano,
The heat wrapping my whole being
And the ashes pouring over me.
My heart was hers
When the little wrens
Broke the shells
With their tiny beaks as they grew.
XIV
My poem starts
With the sun setting
Beyond the volcano.
Like the wind passing
Over the rushes,
It makes no sound for the heart
Of a hasty wayfarer.
The firefly lights my watch
As it flutters its thin wings.
XVIII
The parsley is bright
Under the wings of the wagtail,
My love,
And the lane, as it passes
Under the fir trees,
Gives a clear glimpse of the sky.
Not a cloud above,
The reeds in the pond afar
Rustle in the wind, and I
Feel the presence of autumn in everything.
The thunderclouds have already gone past
The summit of the volcano
Beyond the hillock of Hanareyama,
And the streams
Running toward the southern boundary
As they lure friends
With their melancholy voices.
My love,
The parting time is come.
Leave desolation and annihilation
To the clear brook
And let memory stay on the bank.
Let us leave,
Riding the rainbow,
For the land
Where no words avail,
Nothing to give,
Nothing to get.
Translated by George Saito
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（Work Posted）
POEMS FROM PRELUDES (Zensoukyoku) was published by Tokyo Sougensha in 1956. An excerpt of this gentle lyrical verse was translated into English and published by the Japan P.E.N Club in 1968.（From The Japan P.E.N. News No.21 1968）