Songs of a Cowherd/Primroses by the Shore

by Itō Sachio

Primroses by the Shore

At heaven’s high boundary
Clouds are sinking;
On the shore where I stand,
Sails are returning.

As with two children beside me
I walk along the shore
Where primroses bloom,
The setting sun steeps
The clouds in splendor.

White clouds and the clouds
Shot by the setting sun, alike,
Are vanishing in the dusk …
The sun now sets in its stillness.