in would keep alway.

_Ohogimi._

SPRING

When winter turns to spring,
The dews of morn in pearly radiance lie,
The mists of eve rise circling to the sky,
And Kaminabi's thickets ring
With the sweet notes the nightingale doth sing.

_Anon._

RECOLLECTIONS OF MY CHILDREN

Ne'er a melon can I eat,
But calls to mind my children dear;
Ne'er a chestnut crisp and sweet,
But makes the lov'd ones seem more near.
Whence did they come, my life to cheer?
Before mine eyes they seem to sweep,
So that I may not even sleep.
What use to me the gold and silver hoard?
What use to me the gems most rich and rare?
Brighter by far--aye! bright beyond compare--
The joys my children to my heart afford!

_Yamagami-no Okura._

THE BROOK OF HATSUSE

Pure is Hatsuse mountain-brook--
So pure it mirrors all the clouds of heaven;
Yet here no fishermen for shelter look
When sailing home at even:--
'Tis that there are no sandy reaches,
Nor sheltering beaches,
Where the frail craft might find some shelt'ring nook.
Ah, well-a-day! we have no sandy reaches:--
But heed that not;
Nor shelving beaches:--
But heed that not!
Come a-jostling and a-hustling
O'er our billows gayly bustling:--
Come, all ye boats, and anchor in this spot!

_Anon._

LINES TO A FRIEND

Japan is not a land where men need pray,
For 'tis itself divine:--
Yet do I lift my voice in prayer and say:--
"May ev'ry joy be thine!
And may I too, if thou those joys attain,
Live on to see thee blest!"
Such the fond prayer, that, like the restless main,
Will rise within my breast.

_Hitomaro._

A VERY ANCIENT ODE

Mountains and ocean-waves
Around me lie;
Forever the mountain-chains
Tower to the sky;
Fixed is the ocean
Immutably:--
Man is a thing of nought,
Born but to die!

_Anon._

THE BRIDGE TO HEAVEN[150]

Oh! that that ancient bridge,
Hanging 'twixt heaven and earth, were longer still!
Oh! that yon tow'ring mountain-ridge
So boldly tow'ring, tow'red more boldly still!
Then from the moon on high
I'd fetch some drops of the life-giving stream--
A gift that might beseem
Our Lord, the King, to make him live for aye!

_Anon._

ODE TO