Ame ni mo Makezu

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Ame ni mo makezu is a famous poem written by Kenji Miyazawa, a poet from the northern prefecture of Iwate in Japan. The poem was found posthumously in a small black notebook in one of the poet's trunks.

The text of the poem is given below in Japanese, as a transliteration using romaji, and in translation. This version includes some kanji; some versions use only katakana.

1 The Poem
2 Style
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] The Poem

Japanese	Transliteration	Translation
雨ニモマケズ風ニモマケズ雪ニモ夏ノ暑サニモマケヌ丈夫ナカラダヲモチ慾ハナク決シテ瞋ラズイツモシヅカニワラツテヰル一日ニ玄米四合ト味噌ト少シノ野菜ヲタベアラユルコトヲジブンヲカンジヨウニ入レズニヨクミキキシワカリソシテワスレズ野原ノ松ノ林ノ蔭ノ小サナ萱ブキノ小屋ニヰテ東ニ病気ノ子供アレバ行ツテ看病シテヤリ西ニ疲レタ母アレバ行ツテソノ稲ノ束ヲ負ヒ南ニ死ニサウナ人アレバ行ツテコハガラナクテモイヽトイヒ北ニケンクワヤソシヨウガアレバツマラナイカラヤメロトイヒヒドリノトキハナミダヲナガシサムサノナツハオロオロアルキミンナニデクノボートヨバレホメラレモセズクニモサレズサウイフモノニワタシハナリタイ	ame ni mo makezu kaze ni mo makezu yuki ni mo natsu no atsusa ni mo makenu joubu na karada wo mochi yoku ha naku kesshite ikarazu itsu mo shizuka ni waratte iru ichi nichi ni genmai yon gou to miso to sukoshi no yasai wo tabe arayuru koto wo jibun wo kanjou ni irezu ni yoku mikiki shi wakari soshite wasurezu nohara no matsu no hayashi no kage no chiisana kayabuki no koya ni ite higashi ni byouki no kodomo areba itte kanbyou shite yari nishi ni tsukareta haha areba itte sono ine no taba wo ohi minami ni shinisou na hito areba itte kohagaranakute mo ii to ihi kita ni kenkwa ya soshou ga areba tsumaranai kara yamero to ihi hidori no toki ha namida wo nagashi samusa no natsu ha orooro aruki minna ni deku no bou to yobare homerare mo sezu ku ni mo sarezu sau iu mono ni watashi ha naritai	not losing to the rain not losing to the wind not losing to the snow or to summer's heat with a strong body without want never angering always smiling quietly every day four bowls of brown rice miso and some vegetables to eat to everything without judging carefully watching and listening and understanding then not forgetting in the shade of the woods of the pines of the fields being in a little thatched hut if there is a sick child in the east going and watching over them if there is a tired mother in the west going and shouldering her sheaf of rice if there is someone near death in the south going and saying there's no need to be afraid if there is a quarrel or a suit in the north telling them to leave off with such nonsense when there's drought letting tears fall when the summer's cold wandering upset called a blockhead by everyone without being praised without being blamed such a person i want to become

[edit] Style

Miyazawa chose to write the poem using katakana. This is stylistically odd from a modern perspective, as katakana is nowadays (usually) only used in Japanese writing to denote foreign words. However, at the time, katakana rather than hiragana was the preferred syllabary. The limited use of kanji might be viewed as a move to make his poem more accessible to the rural folk of northern Japan with whom he spent his life, or perhaps as similar to US poet e. e. cummings' style in using primarily lower case.

[edit] Notes

It's important to note that cold summers in Japan mean a poor rice harvest, hence the line "when the summer is cold wandering upset".

The transliteration above is direct, and reflects the orthographical conventions of Miyazawa's time. For instance, コハガラナクテ (kohagaranakute) would today be rendered as コワガラナクテ (kowagaranakute), イヒ (ihi) as イイ (ii), and サウ (sau) as ソウ (sou).

"hidori" in "hidori no toki ha namida wo nagashi" is generally taken as a simple typo, because he made the same typos in his other works. But hidori means the daily wages of day laborers in the dialect of Hanamaki, so some people believe the true meaning of this verse is that Miyazawa cries for sympathy to the poor farmers who have to work by the day. ([1])

[edit] External links

Pictures of Miyazawa's notebook, showing the pages where the poem was found after his death
Be not Defeated by the Rain, an alternative translation by David Sulz
Unperturbed by the Rain, an alternative translation by Steven P. Venti

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Categories: 20th century poems | Japanese poetry