Pathway to Japanese Literature
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| Original Title | 在りし日の歌 |
|---|---|
| Author | 中原 中也 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | A haunting tapestry of memory and melancholy unfolds through fleeting glimpses of seasons, shadows, and silenced voices. Autumn leaves crunch underfoot as ghostly children blink from skeletal branches; winter dawns pierce with frost while smokestacks hum forgotten songs. A kaleidoscope of images—copper coins glinting on balconies, roundworms writhing in childhood toilets, steam whistles echoing over harbors—paints a world where beauty and decay intertwine like lovers. \nThe verses thrum with unspoken shame and restless longing: sisters materialize in tree hollows, Verlaine’s specter treads rain-slicked alleys, and bones bleached by time whisper absurdities of existence. Seasons cycle relentlessly—spring’s skylarks mocking human sorrow, summer nights heavy with unrealized desire—as the poet’s gaze wavers between fragile hope and cosmic indifference. \nHere, even moonlight grows corporeal, overfed on ginger, while laughter curdles into superiority under cruel morning skies. Each poem lingers like smoke—ephemeral yet sharp—inviting readers to wander labyrinthine emotions where every rusted heartache and gilded memory becomes a mirror for their own buried songs. |
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