Only your name and your deathless fame,
Let me remember to the end of time;
Let the Asuka River, your namesake,
Bear your memory for ages,
O Princess adored!
ENVOYS
Even the flowing water
Of the Asuka River—
If a weir were built,
Would it not stand still?
O Asuka, River of Tomorrow,
As if I thought that I should see
Her name always lives in my mind.
My Princess on the morrow,
After the death of his wife
Since in Karu lived my wife,
I wished to be with her to my heart’s content;
But I could not visit her constantly
Because of the many watching eyes—
Men would know of our troth,
Had I sought her too often.
So our love remained secret like a rock-pent pool;
I cherished her in my heart,
Looking to aftertime when we should be together,
And lived secure in my trust
As one riding a great ship.
Suddenly there came a messenger
Who told me she was dead—
Was gone like a yellow leaf of autumn.
Dead as the day dies with the setting sun,
Lost as the bright moon is lost behind the cloud,
