Eines COMPOSED ON THE OCCASION OF MY LORD OHOTOMO, THE INSPECTOR OF TRIBUTE, MAKING THE ASCENT OF MOUNT TSUKUBA. [Who this Lord Ohotomo was is not certain, there being no sufficient grounds for supposing, with the commentator Keichiyuu, that he was the same as the Prime Minister Ohotomo mentioned on page 105 as father of the poetess Sakanouhe. Mount Tsukuba, in the province of Hitachi, is well seen from Yedo, rising with its two peaks of almost exactly equal height, at a distance of some sixty miles to the north of the city, and gaining from the flatness of the country, between its base and the coast, an appearance of dignity to which its actual elevation of only three thousand feet would scarcely entitle it. The translator, on making the ascent, found a small shrine on either peak, one dedicated to the god, and the other to the goddess, of the locality.] When my lord, who fain would look on To the highlands of Hitáchi Bent his steps, then I, his servant, Cried I when we scal'd the summit. And the gracious goddess gave us Smiling welcome, while her cousort Condescended to admit us Into these his sacred precincts, O'er Tsukuba double-crested, Where the clouds do have their dwelling And the rain for ever raineth, And in shapeless gloom was shrouded ;- Couplet. When the great men of old pass'd by this way, Could e'en their pleasures vie with ours to-day? (ANON.) Ode to the Cuckoo, Nightingales built the nest First thy young head did rest, Strange to the father bird, Strange to the mother bird Sounded the note they heard, COMPOSED ON THE OCCASION OF ASCENDING MOUNT TSUKUBA, AND JOINING IN THE CHORIC DANCE. Where many an eagle builds her nest There the men and maids foregather, And this the song they sing together: • Literally "the blossoms of the u shrub (deutzia sieboldiana), which are white. Literally, the tachibana (citrus mandarinus), one of the orange tribe. "I your mistress mean to woo! (MUSHIMARO.) RESPECTFULLY PRESENTED TO PRINCE TACHIBANA-NO-HIRONARI ON THE OCCASION OF HIS DEPARTURE AS AMBASSADOR TO THE COURT OF CHINA, WISHING HIM A PROSPEROUS VOYAGE AND A HAPPY RETURN. (A.D. 733.) When o'er the land the gods held sov'reign sway, That the bright gods with tender care enfold Blessing the land with many an holy spell: We of this later age ourselves do prove; May feast his eyes on tokens of their love. Countless are the hosts attendant On the heav'n-establish'd throne Lights to-day, for thou canst trace From king to king thy noble birth From the resplendent Son of Heaven May the great immortals dwelling Billows make their dread abode, Gather round and safely guide thee, While, that nought but good betide thee, Lie the fortunes of our land, From the country of thy birth Waft thee to Cathay's unknown dominions! And when, thine embassage concluded, What divinity should be understood by this term is a matter of debate among the native commentators. Probably it refers to Ohoanamuchi, the aboriginal monarch of the province of Idzumo, who, according to the national traditions, peacefully relinquished the sovereignty of the country to the Mikado's ancestors, the heaven-descended gods, on the condition of receiving from them divine honours. One of the most interesting questions connected with the semi-fabulous early Japanese history is that, as to whether this tradition may be interpreted so as to warrant the belief of the existence in Japan of a pre-Japanese civilisation. G |