Witter Bynner

In Kamakura (1920)

In Kamakura, near the great Daibutsu,
When I had sat a long time on the ground
And been gathered up, forgetful of my face and form,
Into the face and form of endless dream,
I found among the booths a little pendant Buddha
With the steel of a round mirror for His halo . . .
So that a brooding head still intervenes in bronze
Between my face and the image of my face,
And I cannot see myself and not see Him.

For an overview of Bynner’s Japanese interests see Witter Bynner and Japan in the Bibliography, and for a note about Bynner titles in print see In the House of Lafcadio Hearn. ‘In Kamakura’ appeared in A Canticle of Pan (BE3).