Of these domains that own th' imperial pow'r,
Where glitt'ring palaces unnumber'd rise;

Yet such might please thee not, nor many a bow'r
Where village homesteads greet the pilgrim's eyes:

But in this spot, at Sahoyáma's* base,
Some secret influence bade thee find thy rest,-
Bade seek us out with loving eagerness,
As seeks the weeping infant for the breast.

And here with aliens thou didst choose to dwell,
Year in, year out, in deepest sympathy;
And here thou builtest thee an holy cell;
And so the peaceful years went gliding by.

But ah! what living thing mote yet avoid
Death's dreary summons ?-And thine hour did sound
When all the friends on whom thine heart relied
Slept on strange pillows on the mossy ground.t

So, while the morn lit up Kasúga's crest,
O'er Sahogáha's flood thy corse they bore,
To fill a tomb upon yon mountain's breast,
And dwell in darkness drear for evermore.

No words, alas! nor efforts can avail:
Nought can I do, poor solitary child!

* A mountain in the province of Yamato. The river Sahogáha, mentioned a little farther on, runs past its base.

This line is an adaptation of the Japanese term Kusa-makura, literally " a pillow of herbs," itself the "pillow-word" for the word journey.

F

Nought can I do but make my bitter wail,
And pace the room with cries and gestures wild,

Ceaselessly weeping, till my snowy sleeve

Is wet with tears. Who knows? Perchance again Wafted they're borne upon the sighs I heave

On 'Arima's far distant heights to rain.

(SAKANOUHE.)

Miscellaneous Poems

FROM THE

"MAÑYEFUSHIFU;"

OR,

"COLLECTION OF A MYRIAD LEAVES."

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.

Lines

COMPOSED BY THE EMPEROR ZHIYOMEI ON THE OCCASION OF HIS ASCENDING MOUNT KAGU, * AND CONTEMPLATING THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY.

Countless are the mountain-chains

Tow'ring o'er Cipango's plains;

But fairest is Mount Kagu's peak,

Whose heav'nward soaring heights I seek
And gaze on all my realms beneath,
Gaze on the land where vapours wreathe

O'er many a cot; gaze on the sea,
Where cry the seagulls merrily.
Yes! 'tis a very pleasant land,
Fill'd with joys on either hand,
Sweeter than aught beneath the sky,
Dear islands of the dragon-fly! †

* Near Nara.

+ One of the ancient names of Japan, given to the country on account of a supposed resemblance in shape to that insect. The dragon-flies of Japan are various and very beautiful.