V

So, when the rich young merchant Showed him his bags of gold, Yoichi Tenko, the painter, Gave him her hand to hold, Said, “You shall wed him, O Kimi” : Softly he lied and smiled-- “Yea, for Sawara is wedded! Let him not mock you, child.”

Dumbly she turned and left them, Never a word or cry Broke from her lips’ grey petals Under the drifting sky: Down to the spray and the rainbows, Where she had watched him of old Painting the rose-red islands, Painting the sand’s wet gold

Down to their dreams of sunset, Frail as a flower’s white ghost, Lonely and lost she wandered Down to the darkening coast; Lost in the drifting midnight, Weeping, desolate, blind Many went out to seek her: Never a heart could find