Suzuko Nakano (中野 鈴子) (1906-1958) was a female Japanese poet born in Fukui prefecture who has, as far as I can tell, never been translated into English. This is my translation of her poem “闇と光と” (Darkness and Light). There is very little available about her in English online, but this is her Japanese Wikipedia page.
I’ve listed the poem in parallel Japanese/English, though in a few places I switched around lines in English to make things flow better. The Japanese text was taken from here.
闇と光と
Light and Darkness
(中野鈴子)
(Suzuko Nakano)
時間は流れていたのだ
Time had flowed by
囚われたまま
In a state of imprisonment
盲目となったままに
In a state of blindness
—
恐ろしい事実の成立
The birth of a terrible truth
その日々
In those days
よみがえった自覚
An awareness reborn
日にさらされ
Exposed to the sun
心を閉じ
Closing the mind
身をさいなむ
Torturing the body
このように
Like this
絶対な
These absolute
過失 捺印
Faults, these seals
日にいく度
With each passing day
生きがたい闇の淵に立つ
I stand on an abyss of grueling darkness
—
しかもなお
And with all of that
胸に抱く
This flame
一つのかがり火
Held in my bosom
ひろがり照る
Shining brightly
時代の暗雲に堪え
Enduring the dark cloud of the times
辛苦と犠牲を越えて
Surpassing the hardships and the sacrifices
高く広く
Tall and wide
新しき世界
A new world
新しき建設
A new establishment
困難とはげましと遠い長い里程
The suffering, the encouragement, and a long, distant journey
小さい大きいたくさんの仕事
Much work to do, big and small
仕事に役立つ
The hope of a tiny worker
小さき働き手としての願い
To serve that work
一つのあくがれ
A certain longing
信念の星
A star of conviction
最後の最大のかがり火
The last, greatest blaze
—
闇に立つ
Standing in the darkness
わたしを呼ぶ
Calling out to me
立ちはだかって呼ぶ
Calling, blocking my way
(English Translation Copyright © 2025 by J.D. Wisgo)
Please let me know if you enjoyed this poem and would like to see more of her works translated into English.
(if you want to read more works by a Japanese woman author, please see my book of translations of Hayashi Fumiko’s works.)