Nirvana Days
To fair Chion-in aloft.

For set aloft and set apart,

Beyond the city's din,

Under the shade of ancient heights

Lies templed calm Chion-in.

And there the great bell's booming fills

Its gates all day, and thin

Low beating on mokugyo, by

Priests passioning for sin.

[Pg 12]

And there the sun upon its courts

And carvings, gods and graves,

Rests as no light of earth-lands known,

Like to Nirvana laves

And washes with sweet under-flow

Into the soul's far caves.

And no more shall this life seem real

To one who feels its waves.

"No more!" I'd say, then wander on

To Kiyomizu-shrine,


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