Climbing Kagu-yama and looking upon the land
Countless are the mountains in Yamato,
But perfect is the heavenly hill of Kagu;
When I climb it and survey my realm,
Over the wide plain the smoke-wreaths rise and rise,
Over the wide lake the gulls are on the wing;
A beautiful land it is, the Land of Yamato!
Emperor Jomei (593-641)
Upon the departure of Prince Otsu for the capital after his secret visit to the Shrine of Ise
To speed my brother
Parting for Yamato,
In the deep of night I stood
Till wet with the dew of dawn.
The lonely autumn mountains
Are hard to pass over
Even when two go together—
How does my brother cross them all alone!
Princess Ōku (661-701)
• •
In the sea of Iwami,
By the cape of Kara,
There amid the stones under sea
Grows the deep-sea miru weed;
There along the rocky strand
Grows the sleek sea tangle.
Like the swaying sea tangle,
Unresisting would she lie beside me—
My wife whom I love with a love
Deep as the miru-growing ocean.
