Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE: CANTO FIRST: 3. THE TEMPLES OF TOKIO, by ARTHUR PETERSON Poet's Biography First Line: Here rest, in mausoleums grand Last Line: Beneath the waving bamboo-trees. Subject(s): Temples; Tokyo; Mosques | ||||||||
1 Here rest, in mausoleums grand, Seven of the Tokugawa blood; Here once Zojoji's temple stood, Founded by Iyeyasu's hand. Here, sheltered from great Yedo's din, Serener beats the pulse of life; Beyond these august groves is strife; Peace and Religion reign within. I stroll and gaze: through lacquered gate, Past gorgeous shrine I make my way; Thrice beautiful, this April day, Are these tomb-temples of the great. On tent-shaped roofs the sunlight falls; The sweet air fills each spacious court; Proud Shiba, Heaven and Earth consort To gild thy mortuary walls! 2 What spectacle is this? What fair To which the men and maidens throng? Where wrestler's shout, and geisha's song Re-echo through the jocund air: Where musumes, in coquetry wise, Set sake forth, or fragrant tea, And praise our feats of archery, As from each bow the arrow flies: Where wondrous wax-works meet the eye, And booths attract on every side; And, lo, a temple's portal wide Invites to prayer the passers-by: What spectacle is this? Divine, O traveler, if thou canst, the scene? Pilgrims are these upon the green: This is Asakusa's famous shrine! 3 Uyeno, when, through thy royal park, On April days the people stray, To view the cherry-blossoms gay Which spring's arrival ever mark, What picnic of my native land Can with thy festival compare? So glad the admiring groups, so fair The cherry-flowers, the pines so grand. For ever, in these Orient isles, Pleasure, immortal goddess, reigns; Nor prince nor peasant she disdains, Alike on young and old she smiles. O thou who, harassed on all hands, Wouldst seek the earthly paradise, To Nippon hie; with thine own eyes Behold the happiest of earth's lands! 4 But ere I leave thy classic plain, Fair Yedo, let my simple verse Gompachi's story sad rehearse -- Komurasaki's love and pain. A samurai brave was he at first, And she a maiden fair and good; To buy her stricken parents food She sold herself. O fate the worst! He played the robber's cruel part For gold wherewith his love to save; He fell; and o'er Gompachi's grave She plunged the dagger to her heart. Like Abelard and Heloise, Lovers unfortunate were they. Now in Meguro rests their clay, Beneath the waving bamboo-trees. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BAYADERE by FRANCIS SALTUS SALTUS AT DENDERA by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR RAMESES WORSHIPS RAMESES AT ABU SIMBEL by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR GLIMPSES OF ITALY: 5. LIKE PAESTUM'S TEMPLE by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON MAYAN TEMPLE by ADA CLARKE CARMICHIEL THE EARTHLY HOUSE by PHOEBE CARY THE DESERTED SHRINE by GLADYS CROMWELL THE ARK OF THE COVENANT by NINA DAVIS THE MENORAH by MIRIAM DEL BANCO A CLOUD FANCY by ARTHUR PETERSON |
|