Alfred Noyes

Nippon (1918)

Last night, I dreamed of Nippon . . .
I saw a cloud of white
Drifting before the sunset
On seas of opal light.

Beyond the wide Pacific
I saw its mounded snow
Miraculously changing
In that deep evening glow,

To rosy rifts and hillocks,
To orchards that I knew,
The snows or peach and cherry,
And feathers of bamboo.

I saw, on twisted bridges,
In blue and crimson gleams,
The lanterns of the fishers,
Along the brook of dreams.

I saw the wreathes of incense
Like little ghosts arise,
From temples under Fuji,
From Fuji to the skies.

I saw that fairy mountain. . . .
I watched it form and fade.
No doubt the gods were smiling,
When Nippon isle was made.

See notes about Noyes at Old Japan and CA2 in the Bibliography. ‘Nippon’ appeared in The New Morning (1918).