ON THE PASS OF THE MAIDEN, JAPAN LO! Fujiyama's snowy cone The green horizon bounds, And Miajimi's sacred isle, And Budda's temple-grounds. Ah, once again thy voice is heard; Again we keep our tryst, As when upon the Switzer's hill I stood amid the mist. Within the garden's ordered walks Thy name alone I hear, And miss the gentle voice that calls When none but I am near. But where the mountain summits rise Is ever sacred sod, And here thy timid counsel breathes A deep appeal to God. Ah, least of all the many flowers That on my path are set, Read me thy Sermon on the Mount: What should I not forget? "Forget me not." How simple seems The counsel shyly given! Let each interpret for himself This voice of earth and heaven. Ah! once on Albula's gray pass I prayed that I might get, With foresight of a darker day, The sad leave to forget; Nor knew, alas! how soon would come Sore need to urge my prayer. Ah, tender maidens of the hill That constant sorrow share. Forget? Ah, yes! the living fade From memory, not the dead. Thine are their voices as to-day These alien hills I tread. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VIGNETTES OVERSEAS: 6. RUINS OF PAESTUM by SARA TEASDALE AN ANCIENT PROVERB by WILLIAM BLAKE THE LAMB, FR. SONGS OF INNOCENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE PURPLE COW by FRANK GELETT BURGESS TO ANTHEA [WHO MAY COMMAND HIM ANYTHING] by ROBERT HERRICK TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN: THE SECOND DAY: LADY WENTWORTH by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW |