Saturday, February 13, 2016

One Man's Maple Moon: Illusory Chair Tanka by Tamiko Ohnishi

English Original

beside me
an illusory chair --
no more nights now
of waiting
and longing for him

Ferris Wheel: 101 Modern and Contemporary Tanka, 2006

Tamiko Ohnishi
translated by Kozue Uzawa and Amelia Fielden


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在我身旁
有一把想像的椅子--
從現在開始不再有
等待他和渴望他
的不眠夜晚

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在我身旁
有一把想像的椅子--
从现在开始不再有
等待他和渴望他
的不眠夜晚


Bio Sketch

Tamiko Ohnishi (1924~94). Born in Morioka, Iwate, Japan. One of the founders of Keisei (Formation) Tanka Group and the leader of Hatoh (High Wave) Tanka Group. Author of  many award-winning tanka collections. Her sudden death (heart failure) was mourned by many tanka poets.

2 comments:

  1. The intense and conflicting feelings are conveyed through the psychologically effective juxtaposition of the speaker's wishful thinking ("illusory chair") and her own volition ("no more nights now/of waiting/and longing for him")

    ReplyDelete
  2. Each deals with loss in a different way. For Ohnishi it is a chair, imagined now because there is no longer the need for a real one, and denied longing highlights the poignancy of a real longing that can never again be assuaged.

    -- David Anthony

    ReplyDelete