Classic Poem

When my lord, who fain would look on
Great Tsukúba, double-crested,
To the highlands of Hitáchi
Bent his steps, then I, his servant,
Panting with the heats of summer,
Down my brow the sweat-drops dripping,
Breathlessly toil'd onward, upward,
Tangled roots of timber clutching.
“There, my lord! behold the prospect!”
Cried I when we scal'd the summit.
And the gracious goddess gave us
Smiling welcome, while her consort
Condescended to admit us
Into these his sacred precincts,
O'er Tsukuba double-crested,
Where the clouds do have their dwelling
And the rain for ever raineth,
Shedding his divine refulgence,
And revealing to our vision
Ev'ry landmark that in darkness
And in shapeless gloom was shrouded;—
Till for joy our belts we loosen'd,
Casting off constraint, and sporting
As at home we oft had sported.
Danker now than in the dulcet
Spring-time grew the summer grasses;
Yet to-day our bliss was boundless.