Evening
From the loud wave-washed shore
Wend I my way,
Hast’ning o’er many a flow’r,
At close of day—
On past Kusaka’s crest,
Onward to thee,
Sweet as the loveliest
Flower of the lea!
Anon.
[Note.—A note to the original says: “The name of the composer of the above song was not given because he was of obscure rank,” a reason which will sound strange to European ears.]
Footnotes
141 The play in the original is on the word Matsu, which has the double signification of “a pine-tree” and “to wait.”
142 Mount Lover and Mount Lady-love (Se-yama and Imo-yama) in the province of Yamato.
143 The reference in this song is to an old superstition. It used to be supposed that the chance words caught from the mouths of passers-by would solve any doubt on questions to which it might otherwise be impossible to obtain an answer. This was called the yufu-ura, or “evening divination,” on account of its being practised in the evening. It has been found impossible in this instance to follow the original very closely.