On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.

　　The infinite sky is motionless overhead

　　And the restless water is boisterous¹.

　　On the seashore of endless worlds

　　The children meet with shouts and dances.

　　They build their houses with sand,

　　And they play with empty shells.

　　With withered² leaves they weave

　　Their boats and smilingly float them

　　On the vast deep.

　　Children have their play on the

　　Seashore of worlds.

　　They know not how to swim,

　　They know not how to cast nets.

　　Pearl-fishers dive for pearls,

　　Merchants sail in their ships,

　　While children gather pebbles³

　　And scatter⁴ them again.

　　They seek not for hidden treasures,

　　They know not how to cast nets.

　　The sea surges up with laughter,

　　And pale gleams the smile of the sea-beach.

　　Death-dealing waves sing

　　Meaningless ballads⁵ to the children,

　　Even like a mother while rocking her baby's cradle.

　　The sea plays with children,

　　And pale gleams the smile of the sea-beach.

　　On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.

　　Tempest roams in the pathless sky,

　　Ships are wrecked⁶ in the trackless water,

　　Death is abroad and children play.

　　On the seashore of endless worlds is the

　　Great meeting of children.