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A Japanese miscellany - University of Oregon

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104 <strong>Japanese</strong> Miscellany<br />

Old tomb !<br />

Furu-haka ya<br />

Aka-tombo tobu<br />

Kare shikimi.<br />

! ; ; !<br />

— [ob/^] a flitting <strong>of</strong> red dragon-flies — ;<br />

witliered [<strong>of</strong>ferings <strong>of</strong>] shikimi i 1 !<br />

[before the grave]<br />

Sabishisa wo<br />

Tombo tobu nari<br />

Haka no ue.<br />

Desolation 1 —dragon-flies flitting above the graves I<br />

Tombo tonde,<br />

Koto-naki mura no<br />

Hi go nari.<br />

some<br />

Dragon-flies are flitting, and the noon-sun is shining,<br />

above the village where nothing eventful ever happens.<br />

YQzuki hi<br />

Usuki tombo no<br />

Ha-kage kana<br />

O the thin shadow <strong>of</strong> the dragon-fly's wings in the light<br />

<strong>of</strong> sunset 1<br />

' It is the custom to set sprays <strong>of</strong> shikimi in bamboo vases before<br />

the graves <strong>of</strong> Buddhist dead. This shikimi is a Icind <strong>of</strong> anise, botani-<br />

cally known as Illicium religiosum.

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