Enya - Sumiregusa (Instrumental)

The lyrics are inspired by hokku by the Japanese poet Basho, which was written while he was travelling to Otsu, in which he says that on his way through the mountain road his heart leapt at the sight of a wild violet.
I am sure we have all experienced an intense moment when we are moved by some part of nature.
Perhaps an epiphany.
Perhaps it is a celebration of life.
Perhaps just a moment that is ours alone.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATION BY ROMA RYAN
AMARANTINE PROMOTIONAL BOX, 2005

The lyrics for Sumiregusa were inspired by a Hokku, or Haiku, written by the Japanese poet, Basho, while he was traveling to Otsu.
He says that on his way through the mountain road the sight of a wild violet touched his heart.
We have all been moved by the beauty of nature, so I am sure we can all relate to those seventeen syllables that Basho wrote. We have all had a moment that pulls at our heartstrings. One such moment for me was when I was walking in the woodlands and I came across an old, broken, dying thistle. He was such a sad sight. There was a small history in him that would soon be lost. And yet he struggled on. I called him Don Quixote. I went every day to see him until he wasn’t there any more. The following year his children bloomed, he did not return. Even today, although that place has been taken over by the ever vigorous bramble, and there are no signs of any thistles, I still pass by and remember him.
Perhaps these moments are an epiphany.
Perhaps it is our own acceptance of the world and the way it is.
Perhaps it is a celebration of life, or just a moment that is ours alone. In Sumiregusa all of nature is equal in its power to inspire, to move, to touch – from a small pebble to a great mountain, from one green leaf to the many colours of autumn, from the song of birds to a purple flower.
NOTES BY ROMA RYAN
ENYA.COM: SUMIREGUSA WEBSITE, 2004


Japanese lyrics

Mono no aware
Murasaki iro no hana
Haru no hana
To fuyu no koyuki
Harahara
Shizen no bi kana
Ah! Midori no ha to
Aki no iro
Kaze no koe
Tori no saezuri
Kanashii umi
Yorokobino umi
Yama
Koishi
Ayamegusa

 

Translation

The poignancy of things
A purple flower
The blossoms of spring
And the light snow of winter
How they fall
The beauty of nature
A green leaf and
Autumn colors
The voice of the wind
The song of birds
A sad sea
A joyful sea
Mountains
Pebbles
A wild iris

lyrics by Roma Ryan
EMI Music Publishing Ltd, 2005

Instrumental by Umbriel Music Productions