Nightingales built the nest Where, as a lonely guest, First thy young head did rest, Cuckoo, so dear! Strange to the father-bird, Strange to the mother-bird, Sounded the note they heard, Tender and clear. Fleeing thy native bow'rs, Bright with the silv'ry flow'rs, Oft in the summer hours Hither thou fliest; Light'st on some orange tall, Scatt'ring the blossoms all, And, while around they fall, Ceaselessly criest. Through, through the livelong day Soundeth thy roundelay, Never its accents may Pall on mine ear:-- Come, take a bribe of me! Ne'er to far regions flee; Dwell on mine orange-tree, Cuckoo, so dear! _Anon._ THE ASCENT OF MOUNT TSUKUBA When my lord, who fain would look on Great Tsukuba, double-crested, To the highlands of Hitachi Bent his steps, then I, his servant, Panting with the heats of summer, Down my brow the sweat-drops dripping, Breathlessly toil'd onward, upward, Tangled roots of timber clutching. "There, my lord! behold the prospect!" Cried I, when we scaled the summit. And the gracious goddess gave us Smiling welcome, while her consort Condescended to admit us Into these, his sacred precincts, O'er Tsukuba, double-crested, Where the clouds do have their dwelling. And the rain forever raineth, Shedding his divine refulgence, And revealing to our vision Ev'ry landmark that in darkness And in shapeless gloom was shrouded;-- Till for joy our belts we loosen'd, Casting off constraint, and sported. Danker now than in the dulcet Spring-time grew the summer grasses; Yet to-day our bliss was boundless. _Anon._ COUPLET When the great men of old pass'd by this way, Could e'en their pleasures vie with ours to-day? _Anon._ FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 148: One of the ancient names of Japan, given to the country on account of a supposed resemblance in shape to that insect. The dragon-flies of Japan are various and very beautiful.] [Footnote 149: The Mikado referred to is Zhiyomei, who died in A.D. 641.] [Footnote 150: The poet alludes to the so-called Ama-no-Ukihashi, or "floating bridge of heaven"--the bridge by which, according to the Japanese mythology, the gods passed up and down in the days of old.] SHORT STANZAS I Spring, spring has come, while yet the landscape bears Its fleecy burden of unmelted snow! Now may the zephyr gently 'gin to blow, To melt the nightingale's sweet frozen tears. _Anon._ II Amid the branches of the silv'ry bowers The nightingale doth sing: perchance he knows That spring hath come, and takes the later snows For the white petals of the plum's sweet flowers.[151] _Sosei._ III