Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79.
Fujiyama
By From the JapaneseAnonymous translation
H
Long ago the gods have parted,
Henceforth hiding far from men.
Round the hoary peak sublimely
Towering o’er Surúga’s land,
Fuji’s venerated mountain,
All the wide-arched azure sky
Though thou search with wistful gaze
Of the hastening sun’s bright track,
Not a glimpse shalt thou enjoy;
Nor of gentlier beaming moon
Hail the shadow-fringing shimmer;
Fleecy clouds are hovering,
Hovering round the high bare summit,
Veiling it from mortal ken.
Hath thereon the white snow fallen?
Wouldst thou of the lofty gods
Know the annals, only Fuji
Can the secret story tell thee.