Page:A History of Japanese Literature (Aston).djvu/64

48 'Tis the sixth month, The sun is shining, So that the very ground is cracked; But even so, how shall my sleeve become dry If I never meet thee?"

On the spring moor To gather violets I went forth; Its charm so held me That I stayed till morn." — Akahito.

Oh! the misery of loving, Hidden from the world Like a maiden-lily Growing amid the thick herbage Of the summer plain!"

The sky is a sea Where the cloud-billows rise; And the moon is a bark; To the groves of the stars It is oaring its way."

Oh! that the white waves far out On the sea of Ise Were but flowers, That I might gather them And bring them as a gift to my love!" — Prince Aki, a.d. 740.

Although the Nihongi, being in the Chinese language, does not fall within the proper scope of this work, it occupies so conspicuous a position among books written in Japan, that it deserves a passing notice. In it we have a collection of the national myths, legends, poetry, and history from the earliest times down to A.D. 697, prepared