Down to their dreams of the 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. Yoichi Tenko, the painter, Plucked from his willow-tree Two big paper lanterns And ran to the brink of the sea; Over his head he held them, Crying, and only heard, Somewhere, out in the darkness, The cry of a wandering bird. VI Peonies, peonies thronged the May When in royal-rich array Came Sawara to the school Under the silvery willow-tree-- To the school of Tenko! Silver bells on a milk-white mule, Rose-red sails on an emerald sea! Over the bloom of the cherry spray, Peonies, peonies dimmed the day; And he rode the royal way Back to Yoichi Tenko. Yoichi Tenko, half afraid, Whispered, "Wed some other maid; Kimi left me all alone Under the silvery willow-tree, Left me," whispered Tenko, "Kimi had a heart of stone!"-- "Kimi, Kimi? Who is she? Kimi? Ah--the child that played Round the willow-tree. She prayed Often; and, whate'er I said, She believed it, Tenko." He had come to paint anew Those dim isles of rose and blue, For a palace far away, Under the silvery willow-tree-- So he said to Tenko; And he painted, day by day, Golden visions of the sea. No, he had not come to woo; Yet, had Kimi proven true, Doubtless he had loved her too, Hardly less than Tenko. Since the thought was in his head, He would make his choice and wed; And a lovely maid he chose Under the silvery willow-tree. "Fairer far," said Tenko. "Kimi had a twisted nose, And a foot too small, for me, And her face was dull as lead!" "Nay, a flower, be it white or red, _Is_ a flower," Sawara said! "So it is," said Tenko. VII Great Sawara, the painter, Sought, on a day of days, One of the peacock islands Out in the sunset haze: Rose-red sails on the water Carried him quickly nigh; There would he paint him a wonder Worthy of Hokusai. Lo, as he leapt o'er the creaming Roses of faery foam, Out of the green-lipped caverns Under the isle's blue dome, White as a drifting snow-flake, White as the moon's white flame, White as a ghost from the darkness, Little O Kimi came. "Long I have waited, Sawara, Here in our sunset isle, Sawara, Sawara, Sawara, Look on me once, and smile; Face I have watched so long for, Hands I have longed to hold, Sawara, Sawara, Sawara, Why is your heart so cold?"