The splendors of the three generations of Hiraizumi now comprise the briefest of dreams, and of the grand facade there are only faint remains stretching out for two and a half miles. Hidehira's castle is now leveled to overgrown fields, and of all the splendors of his past, only Mount Kinkei retains its form. Climbing up to the high ramparts of what had been Yoshitsune's stronghold, one can see below the Kitakami River flowing in a wide stream from the south (sic). The Koromo River pours past the site of loyal Izumi Saburo's castle, then beneath these ramparts, and at last into the Kitakami. The old relics of others like Yasuhira are to be found separated to the west at Koromo Barrier, which controlled the southern approach and probably was meant to protect the area against incursions by northern tribesmen. Yoshitsune and his brave adherents took refuge in this citidel, but the most famous names claim the world only a little while, and now the level grass covers their traces. What Tu Fu wrote came to my mind -

The country crumbles, but mountains and rivers endure;
A late spring visits the castle, replacing it
with green grasses...

and sitting down on my pilgrim's hat I wept over the ruins of time.

The summer grasses:
The high bravery of men-at-arms,
The vestiges of dream.

The white hydrangeas --
One can see in them Kanefusa
Brave when white-haired.

I saw at last with astonishment the wonders of Chuson Temple, of which I had heard before. In one hall there are statues of the three great generations of Hiraizumi, in the other their coffins and three statues of the Buddha. But the seven sacred treasures had been scattered, the jeweled door broken by the wind, and the gilt pillars were moldered by frost and snow. And yet a place that ought long since to have been utterly reduced and left level under the turf has been enclosed not long ago, and with the roof retiled it withstands the wind and the rain. It is preserved for a time as a remembrance of the past.

The brightness lasts
Undimmed by ages of summer rain:
The Temple of Light.