名人诗歌|The Crescent Moon(2)

ON THE SEASHORE

ON the seashore of endless worlds children meet.

The infinite sky is motionless overhead and the restless water is boisterous^{1. On the seashore of endless worlds the children meet with shouts and dances.}

They build their houses with sand, and they play with empty shells. With withered^{2 leaves they weave their boats and smilingly float them on the vast deep. Children have their play on the seashore of worlds.}

They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets. Pearl-fishers pe for pearls, merchants sail in their ships, while children gather pebbles^{3 and scatter4 them again. They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.}

The sea surges up with laughter, and pale gleams the smile of the sea-beach. Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads^{5 to the children, even like a mother while rocking her baby's cradle. The sea plays with children, and pale gleams the smile of the sea-beach.}

On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. Tempest roams in the pathless sky, ships are wrecked^{6 in the trackless water, death is abroad and children play. On the seashore of endless worlds is the great meeting of children.}