Classic Poem

How marvelous a fellow
is the sea god!
He sets Awaji Island
squarely in the middle,
sends his white waves
circling round Iyo,
and from the Akashi narrows
where we await the moon,
when evening comes,
he floods the tides to their fullest,
and with the dawn
draws them down again.
And we in terror
at the wresting of the waves
shelter in the lee
of Awaji's shores,
not sleeping
but watching
to see
when this night will end.
But now above the waterfall
the pheasants of Asano
are crying out, it seems,
that dawn has come.
So up, men,
and let's be rowing —
the sea lies calm and still!

ENVOY

We rowed from island to island,
but when we rounded
Minume point
I thought in longing of Yamato,
so many the cranes that cried there