Fujiyama, the Mountain.

FUJIYAMA.

EAVEN above from earth below

HE

Long ago the gods have parted,
Henceforth hiding far from men.
Round the hoary peak sublimely
Towering o'er Surúga's land,
Fuji's venerated mountain,
All the wide-arched azure sky
Though thou search with wistful gaze
Of the hastening sun's bright track,
Not a glimpse shalt thou enjoy;
Nor of gentlier beaming moon
Hail the shadow-fringing shimmer;
Fleecy clouds are hovering,

Hovering round the high bare summit,

Veiling it from mortal ken.

Hath thereon the white snow fallen?
Wouldst thou of the lofty gods
Know the annals, only Fuji

Can the secret story tell thee.

From the Japanese. Tr. Anon.

Niphon (Nippon), the Island.

NIPHON.

"AFTER the separation of chaos into earth and heaven (an idea borrowed from China, and interwoven in the legend with the purely Japanese story) the god Izanagi and the goddess Izanami, descendants of the original primeval god, stood on the Bridge of Heaven, and with a staff made of coral stirred up the ocean lying far beneath. The drops of brine as they fell from the staff on its withdrawal congealed and became land, and thus was created the main island of Nippon, the other islands of the Japanese Empire being after-creations, concerning which various legends are extant." Westminster Review, XXXVIII. 328.

HEAVEN above from earth below

Long ago the God hath parted.

Now aloft in the sky hath set
His divine abode, and now
In the realm of endless joy
Inly pondering muses he,

Walking in the world of dreams,
Viewing through the evening shades
Our Nippon's pleasant shores,
Leading in his dreamy vision
His divine twain offspring towards
Yon the hoariest of shrines,
And within the rock-hewn portal
Of their vast abode that ne'er
Hath the utter darkness known
Of primeval chaos deigning
Godlike symbols there to leave.

From the Japanese. Tr. Anon.

THE JOURNEY OF TONASE AND KONAMI FROM KAMAKURA TO YAMASHINA.

KONAMI.

HO first on thee, O fleeting world,

WHO

Thy name bestowed, O Aska stream, I pray
Thee tell me who art onwards whirled

Mid shifting sandbanks, so changeful is the way
Of life to us from happ'ness hurled,

A wavelet now hath touched thy well-known strand
Whom Yenya welcomed as the bride

Of his esquire who long had sought her hand,
Low-fallen with Yenya's fall her pride!
She was betrothed, and Kakogawa's child
Fond hope deep in her being bore,
But adverse Fortune ne'er upon her smiled,
No bridal gifts exchanged, no more
By lover sought, her soul is sad.

TONASE.

Peace, daughter, peace, thy mother bids thee haste
Towards Yamashina, where glad

By bridegroom thou shalt surely be embraced.
Alas! a bride-train thus forlorn

Hath never yet in all the world been known;
With doubt and grief my heart is torn,
Without attendant, mother and child alone,
On foot must urge their weary way,
And strive Yamato's far-off land to gain.

KONAMI.

My body's white as snow, men say,
The chilly winds with crimson hue it stain
Such as the wild-plum's flower make gay,
My fingers all are sore benumbed with cold,
Apt name Kogoye Pass is thine :

O'er Satta's ridge our further way we hold,
Thence gazing back the curling line
All pensive watch of vaguely erring smoke
That issueth from Fuji's peak

And vanishing in the lofty sky is broke;
How sweet if 't were the bonfire's reek
At threshold lit my welcome home a bride,
How 't would our sadness charm away!
With pines o'ergrown Matsbara's plain so wide
Now traversed crowded in the way,

The sea-coast way, by some great Daimio's train,
I know not whose, how blithe and gay
They seem, ah! when shall we know joy again.

TONASE.

O would that Fortune smiling were Upon us, proud thy bridal train should be: Than thee, none happier, none more fair; Now yonder may we Sur'ga's Fuchiu see, The omen cheers thy mother's heart, Her child shall yet the marriage pledge exchange, By husband yet be led apart,

In bridal bower sweet vows to interchange

In tender whispers heard by none.

Narrows the path through the briers hardly seen, To parent as to child unknown,

Fain wouldst thou now on lover's strong arm lean.

ΚΟΝΑΜΙ.

On Mariko's sunny bank we stand, His rapid stream shall bear our griefs away, Dear mother; now on our right hand High Utsu's hill we leave behind, O, say Shall I my lord's new pillow press, Half sleeping, by a bridegroom's arms embraced, What mighty cares my mind distress! Ohoi river, thou whose waters haste In rapid tumult onwards sped, As fleeting often is the love of man,

Yet 't is not fickleness I dread

In him I love, but 'neath misfortune's ban
Our love's full flower can hardly blow.
Our feet upon Shiradska's bridge now stand:
Past Yoshida we further go

To Akasaka; our wearied limbs demand
Repose; the beckoning women cry,
That throng the door of every inn,

"Fair bride,

To Kyōmid's far-famed temple nigh,
To Otowa's roaring falls choose you a guide;
Say, lady, will you not delay,

Adore the temple's deity and view

How to the god the Pilgrims pay

With sacred dance and music homage due,
And join in the applauding shout,

And share the merry throng's loud happiness."