Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/166

  

[The first two poems, although they were written in the Ancient Period, are preserved in a Heian collection, and are therefore given here.]

In praise of Buddha

Empress Shōtoku (718-770)

The small hills How march the four seasons in succession Unwaywardly, from the eons past! Grasses that greet the spring in flowered tapestry; The summer trees curtained in leaves; In the sad breath of autumn, the falling fruit; Bare branches before the shrill winter wind— When I see these seasonal things, I know How man too must flourish and die. Of the hills of Paradise have I heard but never seen; Toward the land of the gods I gaze, knowing not the way. I know only that to make a mountain You must pile the little clods one by one. Where then should I seek nobility? In what delights the heart there is nothing mean. I roof the narrow grotto in the garden end; Lead the thin streams to flow before my hall.