Unbeaten by the rain
Unbeaten by the wind
Bested by neither snow
nor summer heat
Strong of body
Free of desire
Never angry
Always smiling quietly
Dining daily on four cups of brown rice
Some miso and a few vegetables
Observing all things with dispassion
But remembering well
Living in a small, thatched-roof house
In the meadow beneath a canopy of pines
Going east to nurse the sick child
Going west to bear sheaves of rice for the weary mother
Going south to tell the dying man there is no cause for fear
Going north to tell those who fight to put aside their trifles
Shedding tears in time of drought
Wandering at a loss during the cold summer
Called useless by all
Neither praised nor a bother
Such is the person
I wish to be
This poem is also known as “November 3” [1931] for the date Kenji composed the poem in his notebook. English translation by Hart Larrabee.
