One Man's Maple Moon: Vow of Love Tanka by Fumiko Nakajo

English Original

close to death

for me an everlasting

vow of love

in a requiem song

has begun to ring

Breasts of Snow, 2004

Fumiko Nakajo 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

瀕臨死亡

對我而言是永恆的

愛的誓言

在安魂曲聲中

已開始迴響

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

濒临死亡

对我而言是永恒的

爱的誓言

在安魂曲声中

已开始回响

 

Bio Sketch

Fumiko Nakajo (中城ふみ子, 1922-54) was a strong-willed woman who lived a tragic life. She died from breast cancer at the age of 32, just few months after her first collection of 50 tanka, titled Chibusa Soshitsu (The Loss of Breasts), won the first prize in a nationwide contest sponsored by a major magazine. She is, though almost unknown outside of Japan, considered to be the third in the three most famous Japanese female poets in the last century, right up there with Akiko Yosano and Machi Tawara.