藍之詩 Poem in Blue

This pocket-sized paperback is one of the twenty-two titles published for 2015 Hong Kong International Poetry Nights. The theme of IPHHK2015 is “Poetry and Conflict”. 21 international poets from 18 different places are invited to participate in recitations, symposia and sharing sessions of the Poetry Nights. A recitation focusing on 10 local Hong Kong poets, “Hong Kong Cantonese Poetry Night” is included. This collection seeks to make accessible the best of contemporary international poetry with outstanding translations.

水田宗子，著名詩人和女性學批評家。著有詩集《歸路》、《聖塔芭芭拉的暑假》、《綠藻之海》等。評論集有《從女主人公到英雄—女性的自我與表現》、《20世紀的女性表現—朝向性差異的外部》、《語言紡織羽衣—女性的行旅物語》、《現代主義思潮與「戰後女性詩歌」的發展》、《大庭美奈子的記憶文學》以及英文專著《埃德加‧愛倫‧坡的世界—罪與夢》、《近代日本文學中的現實與虛構》等。她曾獲得瑞典駐東京大使館主辦的馬丁松國際詩歌獎，並獲世界數十所大學頒授名譽博士和名譽教授，現為日本城西大學理事長。

Noriko Mizuta’s free-verse poetry has blended transnational feminist perspectives with meditations on the meaning of family and home through five decades. Mizuta has also translated works by Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and E. Ann Kaplan into Japanese. Recent collections have included The Road Home (2008); the three-part Summer Holidays in Santa Barbara (2010), A Wedding in Amsterdam (2013), and Sabbath in Tokyo (2015). In 2013, Mizuta received the Cikada Prize, founded to commemorate Swedish poet and Nobel laureate, Harry Martinson.

如若沉睡 6

If You Happen into a Deep Sleep

 

如果詩會等待 12

Poetry Will Wait for Me

 

在化石博物館 21

On the Fossil Museum

 

藍之詩 36

Poem in Blue

 

園藝詩──庭院 1 39

The Gardener－Garden 1

 

紫陽花──庭院 6 48

Hydrangeas－Garden 6

 

梔子之卷──與佐川亞紀的四行連詩 51

“Gardenias”－Verse from Four-line Renshi with Sagawa Aki

 

玻璃之卷──與木島始的四行連詩 54

“Glass”－Verse from Four-line Renshi with Kijima Hajime

紫陽花──庭院 6

 

梅雨前線發生了異常

紫陽花在晴空下綻放

毒曬的日光裏

既無暇變色

也無力變身

更不為節日添色

一直盛開

 

不用急

不用急

即使如此，紫陽花依然是花

無論急還是不急

今年到此為止

 

（田原、毛乙馨 譯）

 

Hydrangeas－Garden 6

 

Rather odd for the season of early summer rains

Hydrangeas, blooming under blue sky

Under the all-illuminating sunshine

No time for their color to deepen,

Too rushed for a full transformation

Without quite livening up the festival,

They burst into full blossom

 

Don’t hurry

Don’t hurry

But hydrangeas are after all a flower

Whether they hurry or not

This year will end

 

(Translated by Jordan A. Yamaji Smith)