Yes, my dwelling is old; weeds on the roof are growing; -- But the voice of the suzumushi -- that will not be old!
To-day united in love, -- we who can meet so rarely!
Hear how the insects ring! -- their bells to our hearts keep time.
The tinkle of tiny bells -- the voices of suzumushi,
I hear in the autumn-dusk, -- and think of the fields at home.
Even the moonshine sleeps on the dews of the garden-grasses;
Nothing moves in the night but the suzumushi's voice.
Heard in these alien fields, the voice of the suzumushi, --
Sweet in the evening-dusk, -- sounds like the sound of home.
Vainly the suzumushi exhausts its powers of pleasing,
Always, the long night through, my tears continue to flow!
Hark to those tinkling tones, -- the chant of the suzumushi!
-- If a jewel of dew could sing, it would tinkle with such a voice!
Foolish-fond I have grown; -- I feel for the suzumushi! --
In the time of the heavy rains, what will the creature do?
My good friend Taro Kunugi, collected these beautiful poems
