Dragon-fly, quickly,
The priest is coming!
Oh, the boom
Of the bitter bell!
Now you are gone
And my tears fall thickly.
How of Heaven
Do the gods make Hell!
II
The sêmi is silent
(Autumn rains!)
The wind-bells tinkle
(How chill it is!)
The quick lights come
On the shoji-panes.
Come, O Baku,
Eater of dreams!
The maple darkens
(Pale grow I!)
The near night shivers
(The temple fades.)
Haunting love
Will not cease to cry!
Come, O Baku,
Eater of dreams!
The wild mists gather
(Ah, my tears!)
The pane-lights vanish
(For some there is rest.)
But for me—
The remembered years!
Come, O Baku,
Eater of dreams!
MAPLE LEAVES ON MIYAJIMA
The summer has come,
The summer has gone,
And the maple leaves lift fairy hands
That ripple upon the winds of dawn
Where the dim pagoda stands.
They ripple and beckon yearningly
To their sister fairies over the sea,
But help comes not,
So they fall and flee
From Autumn over the sands.