Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE: CANTO SECOND: 1. THE INLAND SEA AND NAGASAKI, by ARTHUR PETERSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE: CANTO SECOND: 1. THE INLAND SEA AND NAGASAKI, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Now, over azure waves, I thread
Last Line: At that first meeting, or this last!
Subject(s): Nagasaki, Japan


1

Now, over azure waves, I thread
The mazes of that Inland Sea
Where all earth's beauties seem to be
Combined, one to the other wed.

What simple pen, like mine, can paint
A picture of this land-locked way,
The long strait opening in the bay,
The distant islands blue and faint,

The white-sailed boats that past us glide,
Or in secluded harbors lie,
The dimpled sea, the azure sky,
The neatly-terraced mountain-side?

Surely, in all the world, no scene
With this fair vision can compare,
No zephyrs soothe like this soft air,
No peaks surpass these summits green!

2

'Tis morn; the channel narrows: we
Approach, at last, the western gate;
And through Simonoseki's strait
Pass out into the open sea.

But still, as though she felt the spell
Which beauty ne'er will cease to cast,
And could not make this gaze her last,
Or had not heart to speak farewell,

The good ship skirts the Kiushiu coast;
Now Hizen lures her with his charms,
Now glides she through Hirado's arms,
Not knowing which she loves the most.

So all day long, before, behind,
To right, to left, my ravished eyes,
Behold the isles of Nippon rise,
Against the Nippon skies outlined.

3

The bugle sounds the close of day,
The colors now are lowered for night,
O beautiful the sunset light
Which falls o'er Nagasaki Bay!

O beautiful the sunset light
Falling upon the land-locked sea,
On slopes where grows the camphor-tree,
On many a temple-covered height!

Sitting upon the frigate's deck
I watch the paling glow expire;
Each mountain's peak is touched with fire,
A floating flame each cloudlet's fleck.

I hear the boatman's evening song,
I see the moon to splendor grow,
And memories of the long ago,
Swift-winged, into my presence throng.

4

Can I forget thy fairy home,
Its paper panes, its matted floor,
The lotus pool beside the door,
The garden quaint where thou didst roam?

The vase of Seto old and rare,
The kakemono on the wall,
The shrine where thou in prayer wouldst fall,
The spray of cherry-blossoms fair?

No more thy hand shall welcome me,
Alone thou standest on the pier,
And through the night thy voice I hear
Cry "sayonara" o'er the sea;

While toward yon distant anchored ship,
Whose masts and hull gigantic loom,
My boatman bears me through the gloom,
Timing with song his paddle's dip.

5

Now in the east, announcing day,
Long lines of red and gold are run;
Now, from the mountain tops, the sun
Rises o'er Nagasaki Bay;

Now sounds the boatswain's whistle shrill,
And from his hammock springs the tar;
Now from our buoy we steam afar,
And breezes all our canvas fill.

Fair Decima astern now lies,
Where once the sons of Holland dwelt,
When Iyemitsu's hand they felt,
Smiting his country's enemies.

Fair Decima astern now lies,
And Pappenberg appears ahead --
The background of a story dread,
Where rose the Christian converts' cries.

6

Farewell, Japan, farewell! We leave
The rocky Gotos far behind
Strong blows the monsoon's steady wind,
The restless waters round us heave!

Farewell the bold and beauteous coasts
That from the floor of ocean start,
The landscapes that bewitched my heart,
Such as no other country boasts!

Farewell the cryptomeria grove,
The green bamboo, the camphor-tree,
The valleys deep which sheltered me,
The rugged mountain-heights I love!

Dear land, three years of life have passed
Since first I hailed thy sea-girt shore;
I know not if I loved thee more
At that first meeting, or this last!





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