But, dear heart! I must away,

As fades the dew when shines the day;.
Nor aught my backward looks avail,
Myriad times cast down the vale

From each turn the winding road
Takes upward; for thy dear abode
Farther still and farther lies,

And hills on hills between us rise.
Ah! bend ye down, ye cruel peaks,
That the gate my fancy seeks,
Where sits my pensive love alone,
To mine eyes again be shown!

Love is Pain.

(HITOMARO.)

"Twas said of old, and still the ages say, "The lover's path is full of doubt and woe." Of me they spake: I know not, nor can know, If she I sigh for will my love repay.

My head sinks on my breast; with bitter strife My heart is torn, and grief she cannot see. All unavailing is this agony

To help the love that has become my life.

(ANON.)

No Tidings.

The year has come, the year has gone again,

And still no tidings of mine absent love:

Through the long days of spring all heaven above

And earth beneath re-echo with my pain.

In dark cocoon my mother's silkworms dwell;
Like them, a captive, through the livelong day
Alone I sit and sigh my soul away,

For ne'er to any I my love may tell.

Like to the pine-trees I must stand and pine,*
While downward slanting fall the shades of night,
Till my long sleeve of purest snowy white
With showers of tears is steeped in bitter brine.

(ANON.)

Love is All.

WHERE in spring the sweetest flowers
Fill Mount Kaminábi's bowers,
Where in autumn, dyed with red,
Each ancient maple rears its head,
And Aska's flood, with sedges lin❜d,
As a belt the mound doth bind :-
There see my heart,-a reed that sways,
Nor aught but love's swift stream obeys,
And now, if, like the dew, dear maid,
Life must fade, then let it fade:

My secret love is not in vain,

For thou lov'st me back again.‡

(ANON.)

* The play in the original is on the word matsu, which has the double signification of "a pine-tree" and "to wait."

↑ Thus pronounced, but properly written Asuka.

Though no formal comparison is expressed, the allusions to the blossoms, to the ruddy tint, and to the girdle, are meant to apply to the poet's mistress as well as to the scenery of Kaminábi. These suggestions, as it were from without, are much sought after by the poets of Japan.

Homeward.

From Kaminábi's crest

The clouds descending pour in sheeted rain, And, 'midst the gloom, the wind sighs o'er the plain :

Oh! he that sadly press'd,

Leaving my loving side, alone to roam

Magámi's des❜late moor, has he reach'd home?

(ANON.)

The Maiden and her Dog.

As the bold huntsman on some mountain path Waits for the stag he hopes may pass that way, So wait I for my love both night and day: Then bark not at him, as thou fear'st my wrath!

(ANON.)

Secret Lobe.

If as my spirit yearns for thine

Thine yearns for me, why thus delay ?
And yet, what answer might be mine

If, pausing on her way,

Some gossip bade me tell

Whence the deep sighs that from my bosom swell?

And thy dear name my lips should pass,

My blushes would our loves declare;

No, no! I'll say my longing was
To see the moon appear

O'er yonder darkling hill;

Yet 'tis on thee mine eyes would gaze their

fill!

(ANON.)

He comes not.

He comes not! 'tis in vain I wait;

The crane's wild cry strikes on mine ear,
The tempest howls, the hour is late,

Dark is the raven night and drear:
And, as I thus stand sighing,

The snowflakes round me flying

Light on my sleeve, and freeze it crisp and clear.

Sure 'tis too late! he cannot come;
Yet trust I still that we may meet,
As sailors gaily rowing home

Trust in their ship so safe and fleet.
Though waking hours conceal him,
Oh! may my dreams reveal him,
Filling the long, long night with converse sweet!
(ANON.)

The Omen.

[The reference in this song is to an old superstition. It used to be supposed that the chance words caught from the mouths of passers-by, would solve any doubt or question to which it might

• The translation is here made, not from the standard text, but from a slightly varying one quoted in the “ Riyakuge" commentary.

66

Homeward.

From Kaminábi's crest

The clouds descending pour in sheeted rain, And, 'midst the gloom, the wind sighs o'er the plain :

Oh! he that sadly press'd,

Leaving my loving side, alone to roam

Magámi's des'late moor, has he reach'd home?

(ANON.)

The Maiden and her Bog.

As the bold huntsman on some mountain path Waits for the stag he hopes may pass that way, So wait I for my love both night and day: Then bark not at him, as thou fear'st my wrath!

(ANON.)

Secret Love.

If as my spirit yearns for thine

Thine yearns for me, why thus delay ?
And yet, what answer might be mine

If, pausing on her way,

Some gossip bade me tell

Whence the deep sighs that from my bosom swell?

And thy dear name my lips should pass,

My blushes would our loveś declare ;