Classic Poem

Bats in a birdless country,
Sosuke put his hoe on his shoulder,
Kosuke took his net in hand,
Sosuke to the mountain, Kosuke to the sea

Cucumber flowers that bloom in the twilight,
cicadas singing in the leaves of a distant mulberry,
mountain paths cool with dew—
Kosuke by the sea dreamed of them with envy

Tasty beach grasses on dunes near and far,
boats drying by the distant summer tide,
the voice of the sea resounding in the eelgrass—
Sosuke on the mountain dreamed of them with envy

And the world changed, as change it will—
Kosuke put the hoe on his shoulder,
Sosuke took the net in hand,
now Kosuke to the mountain, Sosuke to the sea

Beginning in mist, ending in frost,
springs and autumns passed swiftly by,
and hope was like the bloom on the grass,
a thing buried in sand and lost from sight

What becomes of the blue clouds of ambition
that for a moment swell up in the breast?
Not a trace left to be seen
of Sosuke's dreams, Kosuke's dreams

Once again the lilies flower,
once again the plums are green,
and in the deep blue shade of the trees,
Sosuke and Kosuke come home perplexed