Page:The Spirit of Japanese Poetry (Noguchi).djvu/74

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Dear child of dews and summer's impulse, Why wanderest thou as a spirit of malice and evil?"

I crave for the longer life of the many other flowers That have only to grow with the sun and the day: Oh, shortness of my life that ended before its day began! How I long to feel the joy of life and the sun that was not mine!"

Poor child, there is no life where is no death: Death is nothing but the turn or change of note. The shortest life is the sweetest, as is the shortest song: How to die well means how to live well. Life is no quest of longevity and days: Where are the flowers a hundred years old? Oh, live in death and Nirvana, live in dissolution and rest, Make a life out of death and darkness; Lady or flower, be content, be finished as a song that is sung!"

Happy am I to hear such words, holy father, Pray, pray for my sad soul that it may return to Hades and rest!"

Namu, amida butsu"