D. August 30,1814).
"Composition and penmanship by Kameda Koye-sen. Cast by the artist
Sugiwara Kuninobu."
(The poem in unrhymed metre.)
Buddha in compassion tender
With this bell, instead of words,
Wakens souls from life's illusions,
Lightens this world's darkness drear.
Many souls its sweet tones heeding,
From their chains of sin are freed;
All the mind's unrest is soothed,
Sinful yearnings are repressed.
Oh how potent is his merit,
Without bounds in all the worlds!
]
[Footnote 34: Fuso Mimi Bukuro, p. 129.]
[Footnote 35: M.E., pp. 287-290, 513-514; Perry's Narrative, pp. 471,
472; Our Neighborhood, pp. 119-124. The following epitaphs are gathered
from various sources:
"This stone marks the remains of the believer who never grows old."
"The believing woman Yu-ning, Happy was the day of her departure."
"Multitudes fill the graves."
"Only by this vehicle--the coffin--can we enter Hades."
"As the floating grass is blown by the gentle breeze, or the glancing
ripples of autumn disappear when the sun goes down, or as a ship returns
to her old shore--so is life. It is a vapor, a morning-tide."
"Buddha himself wishes to hear the name of the deceased that he may
enter life.
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