Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Narrow Road to the Disaster Zone

01:35
No sooner had the spring mist begun to rise over the field than I wanted to be on the road again to cross the barrier-gate of Shirakawa in due time.

02:04
"Dousojin no maneki ni aite torumono teni tsukazu" 道祖神のまねきにあひて、取もの手につかず
(Not recorded in English:
Beckoned by Dosojin [the guardian spirit of travellers],
unable to put my hand to anything)

02:07
I was already dreaming of the full moon
 rising over the islands of Matsushima.
"Matsushima no tsuki mazu Kokoro ni Kakarite"  松島の月まづ心にかかりて

02:26
"Natsukusa ya Tsuwamono domo ga Yume no ato" 夏草や兵どもが夢の後
These summer grasses
all that now remains of great warriors' dreams. 

03:48
"Ishi no ka ya natsukusa akaku tsuyu atsuhi" 石の香や 夏草赤く 露あつし
Fumes from the stone
the summergrassis redden
the morning dew is hot

05:47
The gods seem to have possessed my soul and turned it inside out, and roadside images seemed to invite me from every corner.

09:49
With the pain of this secret love
my heart is full of tangled thoughts
like the wild fern patterns dyed on Shinobu cloth
of the far off north. (9C, by Minamoto no Toru)
陸奥(みちのく)の しのぶもぢずり 誰(たれ)ゆゑに 乱れそめにし われならなくに 河原左大臣

10:00
"Sanae toru temoto ya mukashi Shinobuzuri" さなえとるてもとやむかし しのぶずり
The busy hands
Of rice-planting girls,
Reminiscent somehow
of the old dyeing technique.

13:00
Late night thaw,
Snow crashing down from rooves:
As Basho’s was,
Another sleepless night?

13:22
"Dousojin no maneki ni aite torumono teni tsukazu" 道祖神のまねきにあひて、取もの手につかず
"Matsushima no tsuki mazu Kokoro ni Kakarite" (松島の月まづ心にかかりて)
I was already dreaming of the full moon
rising over the islands of Matsushima.


15:04
"Matsushima ya tsuru ni miokare hototogisu" 松島や鶴に見置かれほととぎす
Clear voiced cuckoo,
Even you will need The silver wings of a crane
To span the islands of Matsushima.

27:30
"Hamaguri no futamini wakare yuku akizo" はまぐり のふたみに別れ行く秋ぞ
As firmly cemented clam-shells. Fall apart in autumn, So I must take to the road again, Farewell, my friends.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01d26qk