not to be questioned. Moreover Tomotada knew that he had acted foolishly,--
that he had brought about his own misfortune, by entering into a
clandestine relation which the code of the military class condemned. There
was now but one hope for him,-- a desperate hope: that Aoyagi might be able
and willing to escape and to flee with him. After long reflection, he
resolved to try to send her a letter. The attempt would be dangerous, of
course: any writing sent to her might find its way to the hands of the
daimyo; and to send a love-letter to anyinmate of the place was an
unpardonable offense. But he resolved to dare the risk; and, in the form of
a Chinese poem, he composed a letter which he endeavored to have conveyed
to her. The poem was written with only twenty-eight characters. But with
those twenty-eight characters he was about to express all the depth of his
passion, and to suggest all the pain of his loss:-- [4]

Koshi o-son gojin wo ou;
Ryokuju namida wo tarete rakin wo hitataru;
Komon hitotabi irite fukaki koto umi no gotoshi;
Kore yori shoro kore rojin



[Closely, closely the youthful prince now follows after the gem-bright maid;--


The tears of the fair one, falling, have moistened all her robes.


But the august lord, having one become enamored of her -- the depth of his
longing is like the depth of the sea.