Chorus. E'en when the feath'ry shock
Of fairies flitting past with silv'ry pinions
Shall wear away the granite rock!
III.
Chorus. Oh, magic strains that fill our ravish'd ears!
The fairy sings, and from the cloudy spheres,
Chiming in unison, the angels lutes,
Tabrets, and cymbals, and sweet silv'ry flutes,
Ring through the heav'n that glows with purple hues,
As when Someiro's[1] western slope endues
The tints of sunset, while the azure wave
From isle to isle the pine-clad shores doth lave.
From Ukishima's[2] slope—a beauteous storm—
Whirl down the flow'rs: and still that magic form,
Those snowy pinions, flutt'ring in the light,
Ravish our souls with wonder and delight.
[The Fairy pauses in the dance to sing the next couplet, and then continues dancing till the end of the piece.]
Fairy. Hail to the Kings that o'er the Moon hold sway!
Heav'n is their home, and Buddhas, too, are they.[3]
Chorus. The fairy robes the maiden's limbs endue
Fairy. Are, like the very heav'ns, of tend'rest blue;
Chorus. Or, like the mists of spring, all silv'ry white,
Fairy. Fragrant and fair,—too fair for mortal sight!
- ↑ The Sanskrit Sumêru, an immense mountain formed of gold, silver, and precious stones, which, according to the Buddhist cosmogonists, forms the axis of every universe, and supports the various tiers of heavens.
- ↑ An alternative name for part of the shore of Mio. Mount Ashitaka, mentioned a little further on, is a mountain of singularly graceful shape rising to the south-east of Fuji, between it and the sea.
- ↑ Or rather Bôdhisattvas (Jap. Bosatsu). To be a Buddha is to have reached the highest degree of sanctity, "having thrown off the bondage of sense, perception, and self, knowing the utter unreality of all phenomena, and being ready to enter into Nirvana." A Bôdhisattva, on the other hand, has still to pass once more through human existence before attaining to Buddhahood. Readers will scarcely need to be told that "Buddha" was never the personal name of any one man. It is simply a common noun meaning "awake," "enlightened," whence its application to beings lit with the full beams of spiritual perfection.
