The Samurai Farewell

(Each verse two bell taps)

Death, samurai, weaponry, sorrows, rumors,

the atrocious deeds I sing…

a world full of suffering:

And yet the Sakura trees

Are in bloom.

Not a grain of dust

To disturb the glow

Of the white chrysanthemum.

Down come the wings of butterflies,

reaching out

Up to the wild chrysanthemums.

The temple bell falls silent

But the sound keeps coming

Out from the flowers

Summer grass!

It is all that remains

Of the warriors’ song