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I THE DARKNESS rolls upward. | |
| The thick darkness carries with it | |
| Rain and a ravel of cloud. | |
| The sun comes forth upon earth. | |
| |
| Palely the dawn | 5 |
| Leaves me facing timidly | |
| Old gardens sunken: | |
| And in the gardens is water. | |
| |
| Sombre wreck-autumnal leaves; | |
| Shadowy roofs | 10 |
| In the blue mist, | |
| And a willow-branch that is broken. | |
| |
| O old pagodas of my soul, how you glittered across green trees! | |
| |
| Blue and cool: | |
| Blue, tremulously, | 15 |
| Blow faint puffs of smoke | |
| Across sombre pools. | |
| The damp green smell of rotted wood; | |
| And a heron that cries from out the water. | |
| |
II Through the upland meadows | 20 |
| I go alone. | |
| For I dreamed of someone last night | |
| Who is waiting for me. | |
| |
| Flower and blossom, tell me do you know of her? | |
| Have the rocks hidden her voice? | 25 |
| They are very blue and still. | |
| |
| Long upward road that is leading me, | |
| Light hearted I quit you, | |
| For the long loose ripples of the meadow-grass | |
| Invite me to dance upon them. | 30 |
| |
| Quivering grass, | |
| Daintily poised | |
| For her foot’s tripping. | |
| |
| O blown clouds, could I only race up like you! | |
| Oh, the last slopes that are sun-drenched and steep! | 35 |
| |
| Look, the sky! | |
| Across black valleys | |
| Rise blue-white aloft | |
| Jagged unwrinkled mountains, ranges of death. | |
| |
| Solitude. Silence. | 40 |
| |
III One chuckles by the brook for me: | |
| One rages under the stone. | |
| One makes a spout of his mouth, | |
| One whispers—one is gone. | |
| |
| One over there on the water | 45 |
| Spreads cold ripples | |
| For me | |
| Enticingly. | |
| |
| The vast dark trees | |
| Flow like blue veils | 50 |
| Of tears | |
| Into the water. | |
| |
| Sour sprites, | |
| Moaning and chuckling, | |
| What have you hidden from me? | 55 |
| |
| “In the palace of the blue stone she lies forever | |
| Bound hand and foot.” | |
| |
| Was it the wind | |
| That rattled the reeds together? | |
| |
| Dry reeds, | 60 |
| A faint shiver in the grasses. | |
| |
IV On the left hand there is a temple: | |
| And a palace on the right-hand side. | |
| Foot-passengers in scarlet | |
| Pass over the glittering tide. | 65 |
| |
| Under the bridge | |
| The old river flows | |
| Low and monotonous | |
| Day after day. | |
| |
| I have heard and have seen | 70 |
| All the news that has been: | |
| Autumn’s gold and Spring’s green! | |
| |
| Now in my palace | |
| I see foot-passengers | |
| Crossing the river, | 75 |
| Pilgrims of autumn | |
| In the afternoons. | |
| |
| Lotus pools; | |
| Petals in the water: | |
| Such are my dreams. | 80 |
| |
| For me silks are outspread. | |
| I take my ease, unthinking. | |
| |
V And now the lowest pine-branch | |
| Is drawn across the disk of the sun. | |
| Old friends who will forget me soon, | 85 |
| I must go on | |
| Towards those blue death mountains | |
| I have forgot so long. | |
| |
| In the marsh grasses | |
| There lies forever | 90 |
| My last treasure, | |
| With the hope of my heart. | |
| |
| The ice is glazing over; | |
| Torn lanterns flutter, | |
| On the leaves is snow. | 95 |
| |
| In the frosty evening | |
| Toll the old bell for me | |
| Once, in the sleepy temple. | |
| Perhaps my soul will hear. | |
| |
| Afterglow: | 100 |
| Before the stars peep | |
| I shall creep into the darkness. | |
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