Alfred Noyes
A Japanese Love Song (1909)
I.
The young moon is white,
But the willows
are blue:
Your small lips are red,
But the great
clouds are gray:
The waves are so many
That whisper
to you;
But my love is only
One flight of
spray.
II.
The bright drops are many
The dark wave
is one:
The dark wave subsides,
And the bright
sea remains!
And wherever, O singing
Maid, you may
run,
You are one with the world
For all your
pains.
III.
Though the great skies are dark,
And your small
feet are white,
Though your wide eyes are blue
And the closed
poppies red,
Tho’ the kisses are many
That colour the
night,
They are linked like pearls
On one golden
thread.
IV.
Were the gray clouds not made
For the red of
your mouth;
The ages for flight
Of the butterfly
years;
The sweet of the peach
For the pale
lips of drouth,
The sunlight of smiles
For the shadow
of tears?
V.
Love, Love is the thread
That has pierced
them with bliss!
All their hues are but notes
In one world-wide
tune:
Lips, willows, and waves
We are one as
we kiss,
And your face and the flowers
Faint away in
the moon.
See notes about Noyes
at Old Japan and CA2
in the Bibliography. ‘A Japanese Love Song’ appeared
in The Enchanted Island (1909).
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