Ｄｏｎ'ｔ Ｌａｙ Ｄｏｗｎ Ｙｏｕｒ Ｌｉｆｅ
I cry for you ,Brother.
don't you dare lay down your life
you,the youngest child in our family,
thus cherished all the more-
Mother and Father didn`t educate you
to wield weapons and to murder ;they didn`t
bring you up,to the age ob twenty-four,
so that you could kill ,or be killed yourself
You were born into a long line
of proud tradespeople in the city of Sakai;
having inherited their good name,
don't you dare lay down your life,
What does it matter if that fortress
on the Liaotung Peninsula falls or not?
It`s nothing to you ,a tradesman
with a tradition to uphold.
Don`t you dare lay down your life
The Emperor himself doesn`t go
to fight at the front ;others
spill out their blood there.
If His Majesty be indeed just
and magnanimous ,surely he won`t wish
his subject to die like beasts.
nor would he call such barbarity"glory."
Little Brother,don`t you dare
lay down your life in battle.
This autumun,Father passed away.
Mother manages, somhow,to carry on,
but lives in constant fear for the son
who`s been taken from her-
People say ours is a prosperous age
yet Mother`s hair has all turned gray.
Inside the family shop, behind the curtain.
your wilowy young wife weeeps alone.
Have you Forgotten her?Is she in your thoughts?
You two were together for less than ten months.
Think how her heart is wrung .there`s only one
of you in this world ,remember,
Your familyhas no one else to turn to.
Don`t lay down your life.
- Akiko Yosano
7 сен 2024
