We present this work in honor of the 40th anniversary of the poet’s death.
Japanese
1935 – 1983
Whenever I am melancholy I go out to watch the sea
Heading home from a used bookstore I go out to watch the sea
Whenever you are sick in bed I go out to watch the sea
On mornings my soul is wearing thin I go out to watch the sea
Oh, the sea!
Large shoulders and broad chest!
However cruel the morning, however brutal the night
It will come to an end
All life will someday end
Only the sea will remain
Whenever I am melancholy I go out to watch the sea
On the loneliest of nights I go out to watch the sea
Poets Corner 
Thank you for this wonderful presentation and reading of the translation. I’m relieved that it still holds up fairly well after all these years.
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Thank YOU for your wonderful work! Thanks to the expertise of translators like you, monolingual poetry lovers like me can be exposed to work that would otherwise be lost to us. Much appreciated.
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