himeshima no komatsu ga ure ni iru tazu wa chitose furedomo toshi oizukeri
Among Himeshima’s[i] Pine seedling shoots Rest cranes: A thousand year may pass, yet They’ll not age through the years.[ii]
655
[i] Himeshima 姫島 (‘Princess Isle’) was a small island which is believed to have lain in the mouth of the Yodo River where it entered the inland sea south of modern Osaka. Due to changes in topography and the river’s course since ancient times, however, its exact location is now unknown.
[ii] See: [One of] two poems composed to express his grief and sorrow by Kawabe no Miyahito when he saw the coffin of a young girl in the pine groves of Himeshima in Wadō 4 [711]. 妹之名者 千代尓将流 姫嶋之 子松之末尓 蘿生万代尓 imo ga na wa / chiyo ni nagaremu / himeshima no / komatsu ga ure ni / kokemusu made ni ‘This maiden’s name / Will drift down a thousand ages / Until Himeshima’s / Pine seedling shoots are / Choked with hanging moss.’ (Man’yōshū II: 228)
[One of] two poems composed to express his grief and sorrow by Kawabe no Miyahito when he saw the coffin of a young girl in the pine groves of Himeshima in Wadō 4 [711].
妹之名者 千代尓将流 姫嶋之 子松之末尓 蘿生万代尓
いもがなは ちよにながれむ ひめしまの こまつがうれに こけむすまでに
imo ga na pa tiyo ni nagaremu pimesima no komatu ga ure ni kokemusu made ni
This maiden’s name Will drift down a thousand ages Until Himeshima’s Pine seedling shoots are Choked with hanging moss.
A poem on how Mahāyāna[i] develops the viewpoint of the Middle Way.[ii]
世の中はかがみにうつるかげにあれやあるにもあらずなきにもあらず
yo no naka wa kagami ni utsuru kage ni are ya aru ni mo arazu naki ni mo arazu
Is this mundane world A mirror’s reflected Shape, perhaps? Not existing, and Not not existing…
653
[i] Mahāyāna (the ‘Great Vehicle’) (Jp.: daijō 大乗) is the largest major tradition of Buddhism.
[ii] The ‘Middle Way’ (Madhyamāpratipada) (Jp.: chūdō 中道) refers to a spiritual practice of Buddhism that steers clear of both extreme asceticism and sensual indulgence.
