Caroling Dusk/Japanese Hokku

by Lewis Grandison Alexander

JAPANESE HOKKU

O apple blossomsGive me your words of silence,Yes, your charming speech.. . . . . . . . .If you would know me,Do not regard this display;Mingle with my speech.. . . . . . . . .Why sit like the sphinx,Watching the caravan pass?Join in the parade.. . . . . . . . .What if the wind blows?What if the leaves are scattered,Now that they are dead?. . . . . . . . .While trimming the plantsI saw some flowers drooping.I am a flower.. . . . . . . . . This is but my robe,His Majesty gave to me.Garments will decay.. . . . . . . . .On the flowering twig,Lo! the robin is singing.It must be spring.. . . . . . . . .Looking up the hillThe road was long before me.This road is longer.. . . . . . . . .Death is not cruelFrom what I have seen of life;Nothing else remains.. . . . . . . . .Life is history.Turn not away from the book.Write on every page!. . . . . . . . .If you had not sungThen what would I imitate,Happy nightingale?. . . . . . . . .Sitting by the pool,I looked in and saw my face.O that I were blind!