Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/202

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JAPAN

grandeur: of chancels refulgent with gold and silver; of vestments glowing with rich colours; of majestic buildings resonant with the music of chaunted litanies; of cedar avenues and pine forests over which floated the voices of sweet-toned bells; of idols inviting artistic admiration rather than inspiring worshipful awe; of restfulness in life and of a eulogistic title and a carefully-tended tomb after death. Buddhism helped to develop the soldier's creed, but never played as large a part as the latter in shaping the nation's moral history.

The earliest outlines of Bushi-dō are to be found in metrical behests conveyed to their families and descendants by captains of the Imperial guard in ancient times.

I

God, who, casting wideHeav'n's blue gates, stepped down On Takachiho's crest; Bow and shaft in hand, Over hill and stream Trod, o'er crag and moor, Heading warriors stanch, Quelling savage folk; Till his pillared hall On Unebi's plain He set up at last, Unebi or Yamato.
Offspring of that God, Our Imperial Lords,

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