Jun Fujita, Tanka

Tanka (1919)

I
A frail hepatica
Shyly holds its fragrance
Beneath the fresh morning dew.
So, Elizabeth.

II
The air is still
And grasses are wet;
Thread-like rain
Screens the dunes.

III
The storm has passed,
The sky washed clear.
Rain-drops on twigs
Reflect the moon.

IV
A sloping sand plain
Fades into pale night air;
A black tree skeleton
Casts no shadow.

V
The brook has gone,
Left the lifeless bed behind;
A lonely bird
Seeks the water in vain.

VI
On a country road
An old woman walks;
The autumn sun
Casts her shadow long and thin.

VII
Across the frozen marsh
The last bird has flown;
Save a few reeds
nothing moves.

VIII
Graves are frozen.
A few leaves
Stood, danced
And have gone.

For notes about Fujita see the Bibliography Appendix. These ‘tanka’ appeared in Poetry 15 (1919), pp. 68-69.