Amakagu. From the Japanese. Japan: Amakagu, the Mountain. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. 1876-79. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. Asia: Vols. XXI-XXIII

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79.

Japan: Amakagu, the Mountain

Amakagu

From the Japanese


Anonymous translation PIERCING the lofty sky,
Yonder Amakagu soars;
From whose brow the mists are lifting,
In the fulness of the spring;
Rustling mid the pines the wind	5
Ruffles yonder pool’s smooth bosom,
And of every grove and thicket
Are the dark-massed shadows flecked
By the mountain-cherry’s bloom;
While along the strand are heard	10
Shrilly cries of circling gulls,
Mingling with the whirring din
Of a flight of early wild-duck;
And there cometh o’er the waters,
In a rudderless frail bark,	15
Onwards drifting oarless urged,
In uncheered solitude,
Our Emperor’s mighty heir.