Poems From The Japanese

The mists rise over The still pools at Asuka Memory does not Pass away so easily When I went out In the Spring meadows To gather violets I enjoyed myself So much that I stayed all night Though the purity Of the moonlight has silenced Both nightingale and cricket The cuckoo alone Sings all the white night I waited for my lover Until I could hear In the night the oars of the boat Crossing the river of Heaven In a gust of wind the white dew On the autumn grass Scatters like a broken necklace