Title: Winter
Author: Mir
Notes: Set after the events of the first OVA's.
This poem was originally written in Japanese, then rather clumsily translated into English. I'm debating whether or not I should just scrap the translation and try again--this time, not sticking as close to the Japanese version (i.e. go more for likeness of meaning rather than similarity of words). Perhaps that's a project for another night...
Anyhow, if what you can't see the characters below, you might have to download Japanese font support. And if you can see the characters but don't know how to read Japanese... um... Just take my advice that (discounting whether or not it's completely grammatically correct), the Japanese version sounds better and has better flow.
The English version follows, and after that, there's the phonetic romanization of the Japanese version. Enjoy! mir
冬
明日が来ないと思い込んでいて
あの星影さやかな夜の中で
独りぼっちの静かにいった
彼女の言葉をうっとりと聴いたのは
もう過去のことだ
「女心と秋の空」を言っても
何も恨まないと決めたんだよ
雪に埋まった小道に
生と死の間をさまっていると
信じていたのに
さすらいの生活をしても
枯野から御影の声を免れない
どうしても約束を守って
花氷のようなあなたに
いつか梅暦の下に刀を捨てて
雪見洒を飲む一緒なのね
Winter
Believing that tomorrow
would not come
Within that clear
starlit night
I existed in lonely
silence
The days when I'd
listen dreamily to her words
Are past
But even if you say
that
"A woman's heart is
as fickle as the autumn sky"
There is nothing I can
hold against her
Though I believed I
drifted
Back and forth between
life and death
Even if I took to
wandering
I could not escape the spirits of the dead
Voices rising from the deserted fields
At any cost I will
uphold my promise
To you, a flower amidst
winter ice
Underneath the plum
blossoms, the harbinger of spring
I will throw away my
sword
And we will
drink sake and watch the snow together
Fuyu
Ashita ga konai to
omoikondeite
Ano hoshikage sayakana
yoru no naka de
Hitoribbochi no shizuka
ni itta
Kanojo no kotoba o
uttari to kita-no wa
Mou kako no koto da
"On'nagokoro to aki no
sora" o ittemo
Nanimo umanai to
kimeta-n da yo
Yuki ni umatta komichi
ni
I to shi no aida o
samatteiru to
Shinjiteita no ni
Kareno kara mikage no
koe o manugarenai
Doushitemo yakusoku o mamotte
Hana-goori no you na anata ni
Itsuka umegoyomi no shita ni katana o sutete
Yukimizake o nomu issho na no ne
A few vocab words... if you're interested:
雪に埋まった小道 (yuki ni umatta komichi): A lane buried deep in snow
雪見酒 (yukimizake): Sake drunk while viewing a snowy scene
生と死との間をさまよう: To wander back and forth between life and death
花氷(hana-goori): Flowers surrounded by ice
女心と秋の空(on'na-gokoro to aki no sora): A saying that equates a woman's heart to the Autumn sky