{"id":2363,"date":"2017-08-14T00:00:57","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T04:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2363"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:46:50","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:46:50","slug":"aug-14-kenji-miyazawa-%e5%ae%ae%e6%b2%a2-%e8%b3%a2%e6%b2%bb-be-not-defeated-by-the-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2017\/08\/14\/aug-14-kenji-miyazawa-%e5%ae%ae%e6%b2%a2-%e8%b3%a2%e6%b2%bb-be-not-defeated-by-the-rain\/","title":{"rendered":"Aug 14 – Kenji Miyazawa \u5bae\u6ca2 \u8ce2\u6cbb “Be Not Defeated by the Rain”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, August 14, 2017 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNever angry
\nAlways smiling quietly
\nDining daily on four cups of brown rice
\nSome miso and a few vegetables\u201d<\/p>\n

In late August 2015, \u00a0Japanese poet Kenji Miyazawa met me for the first time when I first posted this poem; it was found in his trunk after he died young in 1933. \u00a0 \u00a0His poem stops me \u2014 \u00a0as the middle of Lake Michigan can under its stars at 2:00 am, \u00a0or 18 men this weekend, \u00a0still and leaning in on our chairs to hear each other telling stories from our lives across 60 years. \u00a0 Some of us are Jesuits, some former Jesuits; we gathered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where we first met to risk Jesuit life 60 years ago this month in August 1957. \u00a0Mostly we were teenagers with our lives waiting for us. So we told stories \u2014 falling in love, engaging with our children, burying our loves, taking deep wounds and sometimes inflicting them, going to work and coming home \u2014 paying the prices that adults do. \u00a060 years gave us many stories \u2014 \u00a0\u201cgood times and bad, in sickness and in health.\u201d \u00a0So we listened to stories, laughing and crying and breathing. \u00a0We were sad when we left that place of grace Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Kenji Miyawa\u2019s voice was schooled by the 1920s and 1930s, hard times on the Pacific rim. \u00a0 \u00a0Even more than most poems, \u201cBe Not Defeated\u201d should reward reading aloud with pauses.<\/p>\n

Have a blest work week. \u00a0Breathe sometimes today.<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0\u201cDo not be defeated by the rain\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Unbeaten by the rain
\nUnbeaten by the wind
\nBested by neither snow nor summer heat
\nStrong of body
\nFree of desire
\nNever angry
\nAlways smiling quietly
\nDining daily on four cups of brown rice
\nSome miso and a few vegetables
\nObserving all things
\nWith dispassion
\nBut remembering well
\nLiving in a small, thatched-roof house
\nIn the meadow beneath a canopy of pines
\nGoing east to nurse the sick child
\nGoing west to bear sheaves of rice for the weary mother
\nGoing south to tell the dying man there is no cause for fear
\nGoing north to tell those who fight to put aside their trifles
\nShedding tears in time of drought
\nWandering at a loss during the cold summer
\nCalled useless by all
\nNeither praised
\nNor a bother
\nSuch is the person
\nI wish to be<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kenji Miyazawa,\u00a027 August 1896 \u2013 21 September 1933, was a\u00a0Japanese<\/a>\u00a0poet<\/a>\u00a0and author of\u00a0children\u2019s literature<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Hanamaki, Iwate<\/a>\u00a0in the late\u00a0Taish\u014d<\/a>\u00a0and early\u00a0Sh\u014dwa periods<\/a>. He was also known as an agricultural science teacher, a\u00a0vegetarian<\/a>, cellist, devout Buddhist, and utopian\u00a0social activist<\/a>.[1]<\/a>} \u00a0\u201cBe Not Defeated by the Rain\u201d\u00a0\u00a0translated from the original Japanese by Hart Larrabee. Text as\u00a0posted<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Tomo\u00a0<\/strong>\u53cb<\/strong><\/a>(08\/05\/2012).<\/p>\n

Curator\u2019s note:<\/em>\u00a0After the poet\u2019s death, a black notebook containing this text was found in his trunk. The poem appears in bold strokes amidst his repetitious copying of a Buddhist mantra. According to its date (November 3, 1931), he had composed it while on his deathbed. He was only in his thirties. Visit\u00a0this link<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to view a photograph of the poem in the notebook, the original Japanese text, two very different translations (including Larrabee\u2019s, which I prefer), and interviews with the interpreters.<\/p>\n

Posted by Phyllis Cole-Dai on Aug 19, 2015 12:00 am<\/p>\n

Art credit:<\/em>\u00a0\u201cGirl in the rain,\u201d\u00a0Gicl\u00e9e print<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Pavlo Tereshin.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, August 14, 2017 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNever angry Always smiling quietly Dining daily on four cups of brown rice Some miso and a few vegetables\u201d In late August 2015, \u00a0Japanese poet Kenji Miyazawa met me for the first time when I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2364,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363\/revisions\/2364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}