Music: Enya
Lyrics: Roma Ryan
Sumiregusa-Wild Violet
Mono no awarē
Murasaki iro no hana
To fuyu mo koyuki
Harahara
Shizēn no bi kana
Ah! Midori no ha to
Aki no iro
Kaze no koe
Tori no saezuri
Kanashii umi
Yorokobino umi
Yama
Koishi
Ayamegusa
The poignancy of things
A purple flower
The blossom of springs
and the light snow of winter
How they fall
The beauty of nature
A green leaf and
Autumn colours
The voice of the wind
The song of birds
A sad sea
A joyful sea
Mountains
Pebbles
A wild iris
Roma Ryan’s notes to the song:
The lyrics for Sumiregusa were inspired by a Hokku, or Haiku, written by the Japanese poet, Bashō, while he was traveling to Ōtsu. 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 Bashō 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 andÝI 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.
Moonriver Lodge 