Songs for Children Sung in Japan/Canary

by Yaso Saijō

Canary

Yaso Saijō

★

Shall we abandon in the mountains
The canary that has forgotten his song?
Nay, nay, that shall not be.

Shall we bury him in the small thicket,
The canary that has forgotten his song?
Nay, nay, that shall not be.

Shall we lash him with a willow whip,
The canary that has forgotten his song?
Nay, nay, that shall not be.

If the canary that has forgotten his song
Is put out to sail in an ivory ship
With silver oars on a moonlit night,
The forgotten song will come back to him.