ORIGINAL POEM BY SHUJI TERAYAMA
recited by Sheena Fitzsimons


Jibutsu no fōkuroa

Ippon no ki ni mo

(The sole tree)


Nagarete iru chi ga aru

(Has the stream of blood)


Ki no nakade wa chi wa tatta mama nemutte iru 


(Within the tree, blood sleeps standing upright) 


Don'na tori datte
Sōzō-ryoku yori takaku tobu koto wa dekinai darou

(No bird could fly higher than imagination) 


Sekai ga nemuru to

(When the world sleeps) 


Kotoba ga me o samasu

(Language wakes up)

Ōtori no kuru hi kame no mizu ga nigoru

(On the day of the big bird's coming, water becomes muddy )


Ōtori no kuru hi shomotsu ga toji rareru

(On the day of the big bird's coming, they close the books)

Ōtori no kuru hi mada kijutsu sa rete inai rekishi ga tachiagaru


(On the day of the big bird's coming, the history as yet undescribed rises) 


Ōtori no kuru hi nanoru koto wa busō suru kotoda

(On the day of the big bird's coming, they attach train cars) 


Ōtori no kuru hi kōfuku wa kojin-tekidaga


(On the day of the big bird's coming, happiness will be personal)


fukō wa shibashiba shakai-tekina nodatta

(and unhappiness will have been social)

Senhappyakukyujugonenrokugatsu
No aru hareta hi ni
Ni jū ichi-sai no gakusei Gurierumo Marukoni ga

(On a fine day of June 1895 A 21-year-old student 
Guglielmo Marconi)

Chichioya no bessō no niwa de hajimete sōshin shita
Musen no mōrusu shingō ga
Tattaima todoita

(In the garden of his father's cottage Sent a radio Morse code for the first time Just now, it arrived to me)

Koko e kuru made ni dore dake ōku no
Shinda sekai o kugurinukete kita kotodarou

(How many dead worlds had it passed through before it arrived here)

Musen denshin no rekishi no subete ni henshin o utou to shite
Shōnen wa futo kanashimini kurete shimatta

(I wanted to reply immediately to the history of wireless telegraphy, 

A young boy suddenly overwhelmed by grief )


Kaku koto wa kaigo sokudode shika nakatta

(Writing was nothing but speed)


Musen denshin no rekishi no subete ni henshin o utou to shite
Shōnen wa futo kanashimini kurete shimatta

(I wanted to reply immediately to the history of wireless telegraphy, 

A young boy suddenly overwhelmed by grief )

Kaku koto wa kaigo sokudode shika nakatta

(Writing was nothing but speed) 


Oinuka reta mono dake ga kami no ue ni sonzai shita

(Only what had been outstripped existed on the paper )

Yomu koto wa kaigo de shika nakatta

(Reading was nothing but regret and misunderstanding) 


Ōkoku wa madamada tōi noda

(The kingdom is still so far away)

Kyō no sekai wa engeki ni yotte saigen dekiru ka
Kyō no engeki wa sekai ni yotte saigen dekiru ka
Kyō no saigen wa sekai ni yotte engeki dekiru ka

(Could it be possible to reproduce today's world by theater 

Could it be possible to reproduce today's theater by the world 

Could it be possible to do theater today's reproduction by the world)

`Sō sō chūgakusei no koro, kōen de tokage no ko o hirotte kita koto ga atta. 


("Well, when I was in junior high, I found a baby lizard in the park.)

Kokakōra no bin ni irete sodatete itara dandan ōkiku natte de rarenaku na~tsu chimatta.

(I bred it in a coke bottle and finally it grew up so big that it couldn't get out of the bottle.)

Kokakōra no bin no naka no tokage, kokakōra no bin No naka no tokage

(A lizard in a coke bottle, a lizard in a coke bottle)

omae nya bin o watte detekuru-ryoku nanka aru mai

(I bet you don't have power to break the bottle and get out of it)

Nihon mondai ni ~yaosarabada

(Say good-bye to the problems Japan has)

rekishi nante shosen wa sakushi-ka sa reta sekai ni suginai noda!

(History is, after all, nothing but the world made of lyrics!) 


Urande mo urande mo urami tari nai noda yo, sokoku to iu Kotoba yo!

(The word homeland, how deep we hate you, we won't be satisfied!) 



Ōtori no kuru hi kame no mizu ga nigoru
Ōtori no kuru hi shomotsu ga toji rareru
Ōtori no kuru hi mada kijutsu sa rete inai rekishi ga tachiagaru

Ōtori no kuru hi nanoru koto wa busō suru kotoda
Ōtori no kuru hi kōfuku wa kojin-tekidaga
[See above]


`Daijigen wa ni-do arawareru' to Marukusu wa itta

('Great historic fact occurs twice,' remarked Marx) 


ichi-dome wa higeki to shite, ni-bame wa kigeki to shiteda!

(The first time as tragedy, the second as farce!) 


Daga shinsō wa kōda!

(But the truth is here!) 


Ichido me wa jiken to shite, ni-dome wa gengo to shite,da!

(The first time as an incident, the second as language!)

Buryumēru no jū hachi-nichi wa gengoda!

(The Eighteenth Brumaire is language!) 


Rengōsekigun mo gengoda!

(The United Red Army is language!) 


Soshite ore jishin no shi datte gengo-ka sa rete shimau no o kobamu koto ga dekinai noda yo!

(I can't even refuse my death transformed into language!) 



Ā, kigeki! '

(O theatre)


Mada ichido mo tsukura reta koto no nai kokka o mezasu

(To aim for the nation that has never been built before) 


Mada ichido mo sōzō sa reta koto no nai buki o motsu

(To hold the weapon that has never been imagined before) 


Mada ichido mo hanasa reta koto no nai gengo de senryaku suru

(To plot our strategy by the language that has never been spoken before)

Mada ichido mo kijutsu sa reta koto no nai rekishi to deau

(To encounter the history that has never been described before) 


Tatoe
Yakusoku no basho de deau tame no saigo no hashi ga yakeochita to shite mo

(Even if The last bridge to the promised meeting place was burnt down)

Tatoe
Yakusoku no basho de deau tame no saigo no hashi ga yakeochita to shite mo

(Even if The last bridge to the promised meeting place was burnt down)