allusion is made to the death of the late Mikado; while in the third the poet gives expression to the disappointment of the nation that Prince Hinami did not live to succeed him, and laments the loneliness of his tomb, which he represents as a palace where the Prince dwells in silence and solitude.
"When began the earth and heaven,
By the margin of the River
Of the firmament eternal,
Met the Gods in high assembly,
Met the gods and held high counsel,
Myriads upon myriads gathered.
Then to each high charge was given;
On the Goddess of the Sunlight,
Her who fills the sky with radiance,
They bestowed the realm of Heaven.
To her grandchild they delivered
This, the land of Ashihara,
This, the land of fairest rice-ears,
His with god-like sway to govern,
Long as heaven and earth endurèd.
Downward sped, he swept asunder
Heaven's clouds, the many-pilèd,
Earthward gloriously descending.
In the Palace of Kiyomi,
The great seat of power Imperial,
God-like ruled his true descendant,
The august High-shining-sun-Prince,
Till he rose on high divinely,
Flinging wide the gates eternal
On the plain of heaven that open.
Mighty Prince, if thou hadst deignèd
This sublunar world to govern,
Thou hadst been to all thy people
Dear as are the flowers in spring-time,
As the full moon, soul-contenting.
As in a great ship the seaman,
So our trust in thee we rested;
