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Lyrics: 詠み人知らず

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Author Unknown by Girls Logic Observatory
Featured in:
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Border on Blossom
Original Romanized Translation

爛漫と萌ゆる白は 芽吹きゆく赤子のたおやかさ

ranman to moyuru shiro wa mebuki yuku akago no taoyakasa

All the whiteness sprouting in full bloom Like a child growing up charmingly…

生まれくる春を祝う 華やかに清らけき色が

umarekuru haru o iwau hanayaka ni kiyorakeki iro ga

Such a chaste, florid color Is celebrating the nascent Spring

繚乱と狂う紅は 流れ落つ血潮の勇ましさ

ryouran to kuruu aka wa nagare otsu chishio no isamashisa

Its profusion goes along with a maddening red, The courage of the blood running down the ground

散りて去る春を呪う 艶やかな猛々しさ

chirite saru haru o norou adeyakana takedakeshisa

I’ll curse such ephemeral Spring, So bewitching yet ferocious…

揺らぐ桜の道は あやかしなの そう私みたい

yuragu sakura no michi wa ayakashina no sou watashi mitai

This swaying cherry trees’ path Is an aberration Yes… just like me

どうか歌人が愛した 桜のひとひら抱きしめて死なせて 生きるそれが罪というなら 愚かな私は何に誓って咲き誇れるの

douka utabito ga aishita sakura no hito hira dakishimete shinasete ikiru sore ga tsumi to iu nara orokana watashi wa nani ni chikatte sakihokoreru no

I beg for letting me die while holding tight The single cherry petal that poet loved so much; And if living itself it’s considered to be a sin, That what can a fool like me pledge to? How can I ever fully bloom?

届かない願いだと知って 目を伏せた

todokanai negai da to shitte me o fuseta

And I know it’s a wish that won’t come true, So I turn my eyes away from it.

惨憺と積もる屍 忘れゆく命の温かさ

santan to tsumoru kabane wasure yuku inochi no atatakasa

Corpses are miserably piled up Gradually forgetting the warmth of life

死して尚春は廻る 醜くも気高き花

shishite nao haru wa meguru minikuku mo kedakaki hana

The dying Spring is still revolving Along with unsightly yet sublime flowers…

向ける別れの笑みは まやかしなの ねぇ早く行って

mukeru wakare no emi wa mayakashi na no nee hayaku itte

That smile you gave me on our parting… Was it just a deception? Hey, just go away before I do…

どうか影人が詠った 望月の前にひとりだけ散らせて 朽ちるそれが夢と言うなら 儚い祈りはどこへ向かって歩んでゆくの

douka kagebito ga utatta mochidzuki no mae ni hitori dake chirasete kuchiru sore ga yume to iu nara hakanai inori wa doko e mukatte ayunde yuku no

I beg for letting me scatter away, alone, Just before that full Moon that poet wrote about; And if me rotting away it’s just a dream of mine Just where this fleeting prayer of mine is going? Where is it walking to?

廻る輪廻の旅終わりにするから 最期にひとつ歌いたいのもう逢えない誰かに

meguru rinne no tabi owari ni suru kara saigo ni hitotsu utaitai no mou aenai dareka ni

And because I’ve decided to put an end to the endless rotating Samsara’s voyage I just want to sing one last time to that someone I won’t meet anymore…

どうか罪人が恋した 噎せかえる春をもう一度咲かせて いつか古い歌に夢見た 八雲立つ彼方想いを馳せて眠りにつくの

douka tsumibito ga koishita musekaeru haru o mou ichido sakasete itsuka furui uta ni yumemita yakumo tatsu kanata omoi o hasete nemuri ni tsuku no

I beg for letting me bloom again, once more, On that sad Spring the sinner used to love; I once had a dream about an ancient poem In which I’ve put to sleep all my memories beyond the point where the highest clouds rise…

届かない願いだと知って 遥かな蒼穹を仰いだ

todokanai negai da to shitte haruka na soukyuu o aoida

And I know it’s a wish that won’t come true, But still I gazed up the far away blue sky…

詠み人知らぬままに散った 別れの歌

yomibito shiranu mama ni chitta wakare no uta

That’s the farewell poem Which scattered away as I still don’t know its author.

Lyrics source: Translated by Shion.

– I inverted the function of the words of the first stanza’s second part. “Charm” should be a noun rather than an adverb, but it felt weird how it turned out, so I decided to made it this way instead.

– The whole song seems to use peculiar words and archaic terms / grammar structures. An example to remark that could be 歌人 which is read as “uta-bito”, while it’s usually read as “kajin”. I think that’s because they wanted the song to feel somewhat “old-fashioned”, and I tried to keep as many archaisms as possible when on its english translation.

– “Ephemeral Spring” is my choiche. “Chiru” = “to fall”, “saru” = “to leave”, so “A Spring that comes and goes” was not as good as “ephemeral” in my mind.

– “Aberration” as a translation for “ayakashi” is strange. It’s like trying to translate “youkai”. The meaning I wanted to convey is such, just like “entity”, “something out of the ordinary”, “something almost paranormal / hard to believe”. – The third-to-last stanza was the most difficult one. It states “Yakumo” which of course may imply Yukari (being that’s written with the same kanjis), but I don’t know if it’s refering to something in particular or not. I tried to extract a meaning out of it which could work, but if it’s a quote or something like that… I failed to convey that.