THE CUCKOO

Nightingales built the nest
Where, as a lonely guest,
First thy young head did rest,
Cuckoo, so dear!
Strange to the father-bird,
Strange to the mother-bird,
Sounded the note they heard,
Tender and clear.
Fleeing thy native bow'rs,
Bright with the silv'ry flow'rs,
Oft in the summer hours
Hither thou fliest;
Light'st on some orange tall,
Scatt'ring the blossoms all,
And, while around they fall,
Ceaselessly criest.
Through, through the livelong day
Soundeth thy roundelay,
Never its accents may
Pall on mine ear:--
Come, take a bribe of me!
Ne'er to far regions flee;
Dwell on mine orange-tree,
Cuckoo, so dear!

_Anon._

THE ASCENT OF MOUNT TSUKUBA

When my lord, who fain would look on
Great Tsukuba, double-crested,
To the highlands of Hitachi
Bent his steps, then I, his servant,
Panting with the heats of summer,
Down my brow the sweat-drops dripping,
Breathlessly toil'd onward, upward,
Tangled roots of timber clutching.
"There, my lord! behold the prospect!"
Cried I, when we scaled the summit.
And the gracious goddess gave us
Smiling welcome, while her consort
Condescended to admit us
Into these, his sacred precincts,
O'er Tsukuba, double-crested,
Where the clouds do have their dwelling.
And the rain forever raineth,
Shedding his divine refulgence,
And revealing to our vision
Ev'ry landmark that in darkness
And in shapeless gloom was shrouded;--
Till for joy our belts we loosen'd,
Casting off constraint, and sported.
Danker now than in the dulcet
Spring-time grew the summer grasses;
Yet to-day our bliss was boundless.

_Anon._

COUPLET

When the great men of old pass'd by this way,
Could e'en their pleasures vie with ours to-day?

_Anon._

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 148: 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.]

[Footnote 149: The Mikado referred to is Zhiyomei, who died in A.D.
641.]

[Footnote 150: The poet alludes to the so-called Ama-no-Ukihashi, or
"floating bridge of heaven"--the bridge by which, according to the
Japanese mythology, the gods passed up and down in the days of old.]

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