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弓町より

by Ishikawa Takuboku

Takuboku argues that poetry should be as necessary as daily food.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Advanced3,503 characters · ≈ 14 minSource: 青空文库

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Sample: three-line reading

Each word has its meaning in this sentence underneath, and each sentence has a full translation. Read the original and glance down only when you need to.

食うto eatべきshould / ought to (classical attributive form)詩poetry / poem
Poetry to Eat
詩poetryというものthe thing called / what is calledについてabout / regarding私Iはtopic markerずいぶんquite / very much長いlong間period / time迷うてきたhave been lost / wandering (up to now)
About poetry, I have been lost for a very long time.
ただにonly / merely詩poetryについてabout / concerningばかりではないis not limited to / not just
It is not only about poetry.
私のmy今日までup to today歩いてきたhave walked (up to now)路はthe path (topic)ちょうどjust手に持っているholding in one's hand蝋燭のof the candle蝋のof the waxみるみるrapidly減っていくkeeps decreasingようにjust like生活というもののof what is called life威力のof the powerためにbecause of自分のmy own青春のof youth日一日にday by day減らされてきたhave been reduced路筋であるis a path
The path I have walked to this day is a path where, just like the wax of the candle in my hand quickly decreases, the days of my 'youth' have been reduced day by day by the power of life.

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About the book

The text is the writer looking back on his years of making poems, describing how his early verse required tedious transformation before it satisfied him. It reads plainly and introspectively, with a tone of weariness.

Cultural notes (selection)

Background a translation can’t carry: social roles, history and allusions. While reading, tap “Note” at the end of a sentence to see them all.

食うべき詩 Style

The title translates literally as "poems that should be eaten." Here "食う" means to make a living, to earn one's daily bread. In this essay Takuboku criticises the new-style poetry of his day for being detached from life and lost in idle fancy, arguing that poetry should be closely tied to everyday livelihood.

高さ一丈ぐらい Customs

"丈" (jō) is a traditional Japanese unit of length; one jō is about three metres.

口語詩 History

Refers to the movement, arising in the late Meiji 30s (roughly 1897–1907), that wrote free verse in everyday colloquial language, in contrast to traditional tanka and Chinese-style verse composed in the literary language. The phrase 『因袭を蝉脱』 in the text means casting off the constraints of classical literary metre.

About the author

Takuboku Ishikawa (born Hajime Ishikawa; February 20, 1886 – April 13, 1912) was a Japanese poet known for both tanka and "modern-style" (shintaishi) or "free-style" (jiyūshi) poetry. He began as a member of the Myōjō group of naturalist poets, later joined the "socialistic" group of Japanese poets and renounced naturalism, and died of tuberculosis.

How the glosses are made

Word glosses and sentence translations are generated in context by AI models (DeepSeek and Zhipu GLM), and every word is checked to have a gloss. AI can make mistakes; you can report problems from the book page.

FAQ

Is this the original text?

Yes. The library holds the opening section of the public-domain original, taken from 青空文库.

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What level is it?

This one is marked “Advanced”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.

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English and Chinese glosses are prepared in advance; signed-in readers can generate other languages.

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