Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/295

Rh :::And so for twenty years and more
 * They ruled this land.
 * But truly a generation passes like the space of a dream.
 * The leaves of the autumn of Juyei
 * Were tossed by the four winds;
 * Scattered, scattered (like leaves too) floated their ships.
 * And they, asleep on the heaving sea, not even in dreams
 * Went back to home.
 * Caged birds longing for the clouds—
 * Wild geese were they rather, whose ranks are broken
 * As they fly to southward on their doubtful journey.
 * So days and months went by; spring came again
 * And for a little while
 * Here dwelt they on the shore of Suma
 * At the first valley.
 * From the mountain behind us the winds blew down
 * Till the fields grew wintry again.
 * Our ships lay by the shore, where night and day
 * The sea gulls cried and salt waves washed on our sleeves.
 * We slept with fishers in their huts
 * On pillows of sand.
 * We knew none but the people of Suma.
 * And when among the pine trees
 * The evening smoke was rising,
 * Brushwood, as they called it,
 * Brushwood we gathered
 * And spread for carpet.
 * Sorrowful we lived
 * On the wild shore of Suma,
 * Till the clan Taira and all its princes
 * Were but villagers of Suma.

But on the night of the sixth day of the second month
 * My father Tsunemori gathered us together.