UC-NRLF ^x f\ r"\ i K e wt VERSES FROM JAPAN LONDON: MDCCCLXXVIII. LOAN STACK -// 1? 6 T^ PR . NOTE. Theje little Poems -were originally pub- lijhed in the " Japan Weekly Mail." G. W. T. London, ijt January, 1878. 926 CONTENTS. [MME and Genjiro, a Leap Year Legend of Japan 7 Lament of the Princefs of Mikawa on the Death of her Hufband 16 Lament of the Prince of Chofhiu on the Death of his Wife 20 Fumifera Japonica 23 The Lady and the Flower 26 The Wife's Appeal 29 The Wife's Triumph 32 The Fading Flower 35 The Swan 38 The Rofe and the Rain 40 The Butterfly 42 vi Contents. PAGE A Fan Song 44 Song : My Love is like a Rock 45 Song : The Woods are Green in Summer Time 47 A Thought for a Famous Friend .... 49 The Beft Phyfician 51 Song: When Faft I Flew to My Sweet Love . 53 The Dream 54 The Laft Words of Mifawa Menjiro ... 57 The Morning Moon 5 8 OMME AND GENJIRO, A LEAP YEAR LEGEND OF JAPAN. | JNthe land of Yamafhiro, In the fweet and funny fouth, Singers love this touching ftory, Pafling it from mouth to mouth. Youths and maidens lean to liften, Paflion's fiery thrill they know, And in aged breafts it wakens Tender thoughts of long ago. 8 Omme and Genjiro. Once upon a time a noble, Travelling from the city's din With a crowd of carelefs fervants, Refted at a village inn. Sojourn'd there a wicked warrior, Whofe fierce face with hot blood fhone : Strange, each bore the name far famous, Oba Gendazaemon. In the morning, when the funrife Bathed in light the land and fea, Rofe the noble from his pillow Rode unarm'd acrofs the lea. And behind him his retainers Many a coftly burden bore, When upon them furged that other, Like a wild wave on the more. Omme and Genjiro. 9 Filch'd had they his choiceft armour ; Surely fimpleft child might con : On the box-plate blazed in fplendour, " Oba Gendazaemon." Not one moment would he Men ; Shook his frame with pent-up ire : " Such miftakes," he fcreamed in fury, " I remit with fword and fire." Fierce and faft like Note's tempefts Burft his blows upon the train ; Turn'd the noble at the clamour, Firft he fell among the flain. Dire as earthquake came the tidings To his waiting wife and fon : Dead ! with Hope's gay buds ftill breaking, Dead ! with half his triumphs won. i o Omme and Genjiro. Day and night on fleeteft courfers, Like the winds that hilltops blow, Through the ftream, and o'er the moun- tain, Swiftly rode young Genjiro, Till he came to where his father Lay in hovel dark and dead ; Nervelefs lay the limbs of iron, Dreamlefs lay the kingly head. Stung with fury vow'd the {tripling O'er the land from fouth to north, He would track the bafe aflafTm And his daftard foul drive forth. And, that he might wander freely, Donn'd the boy a beggar's drefs ; But its coarfenefs could not fully His furpafling comelinefs. Omme and Genjiro. 1 1 Tall he was, and ftraight as arrow, Fair his cheek, and forehead high ; Kiftb's eagles could not equal The proud glance that fill'd his eye. From the firft faint ftreaks of dawning Scann'd he clofe the gaudy throng That to Kanongfama's temple Swept in crowds the whole day long. Here the merchant fleek and fmiling, There the noble proud and grave, Here a group of laughing ladies, Like a foam-topp'd, funlit wave. But the dark-brow'd, red-cheek'd vifage, With its black eye flaming fire, Never down the temple's alley Came to vengeance deep and dire. 1 2 Omme and Genjiro. One chill morn a maiden wealthy, Breathing prayer the temple fought ; From her kangos dainty cum ions Peep'd her fweet face full of thought. Clad in rags the fair boy beggar Braved the weather wild and wet ; Silver caft the kindly maiden, And their eyes one moment met. Rude difguife could never cover That lithe frame and beauteous face, That brave eye and thoughtful forehead, That unconfcious, conquering grace. Daily to the idol's temple Pafles Yamamiro's Pearl, And her parents fondly fancy Omme grows a pious girl. Omme and Genjiro. 1 3 But when clouds of cherry bloflbm Snow'd the ftony path to prayer, Glanced {he at the well-known corner ; Ah ! her darling was not there. Never more to fee the glory Of his beauty, near or far ; She was like a fluff on ocean, Searching for loft guiding ftar. Sad ihe grew, the warm glow faded From her rofy, rounded cheek ; Head on hand me lay and languifh'd, Like a lily, white and weak. Leaden-hearted lived her parents, While they watch'd her pale and pine : Deep the heart of love-ilck maiden, Deep as Sado's golden mine. 1 4 Omme and Genjiro. But one evening, when Death's fhadows Seem'd the fummer fields to fold, To her mother faintly faltering She her long-kept fecret told. Through her tears and fmiles fhe whif- per'd She could bear no other fate Than to wed her heaven-fent idol, That bright beggar at the gate. O'er the land they fought and found him : He had clofed his cruel queft, For his fiery foe had fallen In the dark lands of the weft. He had loved the winfome maiden From that fir ft fweet fmiling ftart : Lingered in his ear her accents, And her image in his heart. Omme and Genjiro. 15 All the joys that life can lavifh, When the foul is frefh and fair, Through their foftly-gliding fummers Shed their fweetnefs on the pair. Thus they tell the pleafant ftory, As the feafons come and go, Of the love of gentle Omme And the high-foul'd Genjiro. From the cottage to the palace, From the cradle to the pall, In all ages, in all countries, Love is ever lord of all. LAMENT OF THE PRINCESS OF MIKAWA ON THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND. 'ANES the white moon, but not the burfting heart That brighter grows, and fuller of its woe. Time cannot leflen forrow fuch as mine. The fpring flowers bloflbm and the even- ing air Is warm and fragrant, while with honied throats The orioles, from a maze of cherry boughs, Lament of the Prmcefs ofMikawa. 1 7 Sing all the fweet love-fecrets of their nefts. But oh ! for autumn with her withering woods, And ikies that fried a thoufand ftreaming tears ! The world's beft jewel fank in death's dark ftream, And I, an empty bubble on the wave, Live in the funfhine, while its light is gone. They laid his body in the gloomy grave : He went before me down the dreadful way That all men travel, fhuddering and alone. Soon I fhall follow, for the days fly faft : Then, oh, my darling ! through the mifts of time 1 8 Lament of the I fee our fouls together, foaring high, Like eagles breafting the blue waves of heaven, Rejoicing in the funfhine, far beyond The whirring arrows of the hunter Death, And all the many miferies of the world. Now comes the quiet majefty of night, With fleep's fair froft to hum life's bab- bling ftreams. Hujfbands and wives lie down in blifsful reft: Like golden lilies dreaming in the fun, Fond women flumber in the arms of thofe Whofe love lies round them, as the fap- phire fea Circles the fragrance of an ifle of flowers. Duft is your bed, beloved ; mine is pain : Princefs of Mikawa. 1 9 White are thefe cheeks where once the roies blew, Cold is this breaft that once was fill'd with fire, For, till death comes, my own fweet love is dead. LAMENT OF THE PRINCE OF CHOSHIU ON THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE. 'AKING at midnight when the world is ftill, Alone I feem to drift upon a tide Of dreary waters, while the dying moon Sinks (lowly, gathering all her tender rays And leaving the dark-vifaged night for- lorn. Moans the wild wind : the air is fill'd with froft : My eyes are dull, but folitude and cold, Lament of the Prince of Chofhiu. 2 i Like cruel -throated watch -dogs, fcare away The timid traveller, Sleep. I cannot reft : A dear face fhines upon me like a ftar Through death and darknefs. Poor, fweet, lonely love ! Oh ! I would be the ftone upon her grave, Or the leaft flower that bloflbms on her duft, But for the blefled hope that I ihall meet My darling fomewhere in the filent land. The rock of death divides the rufhing wave, But the twin ftreams mall furely meet again. Through the dim world the village temple bell 22 Lament of the Prince of Chofliiu. Touches my ears, and every folemn found Repeats her name whofe penfive thoughts were prayer. My arms are empty, but my heart is full, And mall be full of her for evermore. FUMIFERA JAPONICA. JKE butterfly in funbeam gay, Or precious gem of dazzling ray, Ghana is the brighteft fay The fweeteft flower in Yedo ; Almoft as fair fhe is as thofe, With eyes of blue and cheeks of rofe, Who dance till happy daylight goes On daified Englifti meadow. Her eyes dark wells of paflion deep Whene'er her foul is ftirrd now fleep In funfhine, and her fancies leap Like wavelets foft and ftilly ; Her hair is bound with fkill and grace ; Upon her laughing lips a trace 24 Fumifera Japonic a. Of faffron flower is feen : her face Is powder'd like the lily. As many-colour'd is her drefs As that entrancing lovelinefs Which fpans the rain-fwept fky to blefs The earth a gladfome duty ; Withjamtfen upon her knees, And gaudy fan to coax the breeze, She fits beneath embowering trees A little Eaftern beauty. But, fmiling, from her fleeve me takes A tiny pipe, and gently breaks The kokubus beloved flakes, And lights a morfel gaily ; A whifF or two the joy is done, But fcarcely ere again begun. She fmokes, I trow, if me fmokes one, Of pipes a hundred daily. Fumifera Japonica. 25 Alas ! they caft a fhade on this The pureft pearl of earthly blifs The fwift and fweet delicious kifs Young lips foon learn the knack o': I would not wed an angel bright, With wings that fluttered Toft and white, And eyes that fwam in liquid light, If ihe could fmoke tobacco. Then puff away all undifmay'd, In curling clouds your graces fade ; No fervour fhall your peace invade ; O exquifite Ghana ! But on my knees I'd pray and pine, In paflion's agonies divine, If only, fweet, you would refign That vile Nicotiana. THE LADY AND THE FLOWER. J^^HERE was a fweet flower, red ISE& "d* 11 ^ * SzA *** That fiffd the gazer with de- fight. Dropp'd in foft {bowers the fummer rain; Joy bounded through each teeming vein. Shone the glad fun, and round it roll'd His quickening heat in wares of gold A lady from her chamber came, And watch'd its befls in beauty Each jeweffd branch (he dotty fcann'd : Then, with die brighteft in her hand, The Lady and the Flower. 27 Acrofs the grafs fhe gaily fped, And, fmiling, to herfelf fhe faid, IERCER within my breaft the battle grew : Now fweet Omatsu, gem of brighteft ray, Would lead me captive with a winning word; Then your fond looks would fill my heart with pain, And your fad face brings forrow to my dreams. But, as the moon's reflection on the fea The Wifes Triumph. 33 Still keeps its place though mounting billows roll, Your fteadfaft purpofe lafted through the ftorm, And I am drawn again to purer ways. Stands a proud rock above a patient ftream That wanders wimpling through pine- fcented glades From fairy fountain on the purple hills. No arrow fhot from ftrongeft archer's bow Can pierce the cruel ftone. With angry frown He fcorns the courting water of the ftream, And cafts a carelefs glance upon her fmiles. But undifmay'd the gentle current flows, Lifting her loving arms in clofe embrace, 34 The Wife's Triumph. And making fummer fweeter with her fong: Till, inch by inch, the hard rock melts away; The glad ftream rumes through his inmoft heart, And laughs and claps her tiny hands for joy- Henceforward, Oh ! my darling ! there ihall be Unclouded fkies and love that cannot change. THE FADING FLOWER. WANDER'D where the fweet- nefs of fummer made com- pletenefs, And all the woods were blufhing with the fiery glow of flowers, When fofteft winds were blowing, and fongful ftreams were flowing, And fped, alas ! too fwiftly the honey- laden hours. I found amid the fplendour a little bud fo tender, 36 The Fading Flower. I trembled with a thrill of joy I ne'er had known before ; Like one in a fad ftory who turns a page of glory, Or fhipwreck'd failor nearing a fmooth palm-planted more. With pride beyond all telling I bore it to my dwelling, And placed it where it flione like ftar in night's engulfing gloom, And there through years of gladnefs, or wearinefs and fadnefs, It filPd with Heaven's own luftre the lonely little room. Now, though its leaves grow crifper and cruel voices whifper, The flower has loft its beauty and groweth dim and old, Fading Flower. 37 To me it beams as brightly as if it quiver'd lightly In morning's dewy fremnefs, when diftant hills are gold. THE SWAN. 'LL in a To ft and silent dream A bright bird, on a dimpling B ftream, Floated through fheen and fhade : The bltfe wave from her fnowy breaft Fell fwiftly, though, with wings at reft, She fcarce an effort made. To me fhe feem'd to glide along As eafily as childhood's fong When fummer ikies are fair; For who could fee the bufy feet That 'neath the flowing waters beat With endlefs toil and care ? 'The Swan. 39 Somehow I mufed on lofty life That fhow'd no trace of ftorm or ftrife, But fwept ferenely on, Harmonious as the laws that guide The throbbing ftar, the fwelling tide, While funlight round it fhone. But none can tell the anxious thought By which that ftately courfe was wrought Between its banks of flowers ; The fleeplefs watch, the fecret pain That almoft left the fpirit (lain, The weary working hours. THE ROSE AND THE RAIN. ROSEBUD in a garden gay Hid all its fweetnefs from the day : Its crimfon leaves were folded faft, Though funbeams foftly o'er it caft Their golden glory, and the breeze Sang of a thoufand fights that pleafe. But rippling rain at length apart Drew the green veftures from its heart, And left it fmiling in the fun, To life, and love, and beauty won. Trembled the trees, the wind wax'd high, Swept a fierce ftorm acrofs the fky, The Rofe and the Rain. 41 The lightning like a fword-blade gleam'd, From the black clouds a torrent ftream'd, And foon the radiant leaves empearl'd Were fcatter'd o'er the weeping world. True love is like a filver fhower, That fills with light the fummer hour ; But paflion like a tempeft fweeps All lovelinefs. to darkfome deeps. Bright heart of boyhood, ponder Jong The meaning of the fimple fong ! THE BUTTERFLY. KNOW a fair lady whofe face is a treafure That dazzles the eyes of all men with its ray, But dreaming of naught but the pafTmg day's pleafure, She lives like a butterfly golden and In fummer's full glory, when fouth winds are fighing, And earth's flowed pulfes with fweet paflion ftart, Amid the vaft joy, in foft ecftafies dying, The Butterfly. 43 It choofes a bloflbm and clings to its heart. But when tempefts gather and dim the blue morning, And mift-cover'd mountains frown over the plain, It leaves the poor plant its bright hues were adorning, And fpeeds with fwift wing from the wrath of the rain. Ah ! light is the love that grows chill in dark weather ; It fings in the funfhine, but pines in the (hade ; Unlefs we can wander with brave hearts together, Go, find a new lover, my beautiful maid ! A FAN SONG. i ITTLE fan, does never anger Stir your heart when all things lie Steep'd in deep delicious languor, 'Neath the funny fummer fky ? Sleep the billows on the ocean ; O'er the fields no breezes ftray : You alone with bufy motion Toil through all the drowfy day. SONG. Y love is like a rock Where birds of white wing fly, Which billows overleap, And fun can never dry. My fondeft fancies fpring Around him every hour, Bound breaking at his feet, And o'er his brightnefs tower. The gazer on the land Looks long acrofs the wave ; 46 Song. He fees a ridge of fnow Where waters roll and rave. The rock it lieth low Beneath the tumbling fea ; My darling's fteadfaft foul Is known to none but me. SONG. ,HE woods are green in fummer- time And bright with bloflbms gay , The murmur of the happy leaves Sounds all the golden day. But here a tree, by lightning (truck, Is black, and bent, and bare. It lifts its arms like phantom fell, And dims the funny air. A bird that built its dainty neft 'Mong branches blofTom'd o'er, 48 Song. Still fings upon the wither'd bough As blithely as before. O fond and faithful as the bird That haunts the leaflefs tree, Though darkeft clouds of forrow came, My fweet love ftay'd with me ! A THOUGHT FOR A FAMOUS FRIEND, ABOUT TO TRAVEL NORTH IN WINTER. LOUDS in forrow come to- gether ; Wild and wet the winter weather ; Dark night fhrouds the day with woe : Cold and bleak the winds are blowing Flocks of birds wing- weary going South to where the funbeams glow. When the blinding (how falls thickly, And your foul grows faint and fickly, 50 A Thought for a Famous Friend. While your flow limbs ache and fmart Though the fport of chill December, Over all the land, remember, You lie warm in every heart. THE BEST PHYSICIAN. HEN I am fick, O fend for him Who fooner cures Than doctors grim ! His prefence bright, His laughing eye, Would make the god Ofillnefsfly. I hear his ftep ; He is fo dear, 52 The Beji Phyjician. All pain forgot, My brain grows clear. Glad thoughts fpring up Too fweet to tell ; He takes my hand, And I am well. SONG. 'HEN faft I flew to my fweet love, A thoufand miles feem'd one, Though ftormy ikies made night above, Within me fhone the fun. What matter if the way were wild, And white the cold fea's creft, If I might reach, where fummer fmiled, The haven of her breaft. But now that far from her I go, Light of my lonely dreams ; Since every ftep is fad and flow, One mile a thoufand feems ! THE DREAM. WAITED for my darling all through the fummer noon ; The crimfon flame of funfet came, and then the filver moon ; And hearing not in filence deep a bird or bloflbm ftir, I laid me down and flumber'd, that I might dream of her. In fweet and fimple beauty, with blufh the breezes gave, As lithe as willow bending befide the wimpling wave, The Dream. 55 She rifes 'mid fleep's darknefs, like ftar through mift that fhines, Or fairy flower in branching bower among the foreft pines. The Spring is laughing from her lip, the Summer warms her breaft, Upon her head the darkling ikies of cloudy Autumn reft, While Winter takes her tiny hand and covers it with fnow : Yet warm and foft its tender touch ! My happy pulfes glow ! Alas ! the joy is fading, the lovely face grows dim, The vifion bright, the rofy light, in min gling fhadows fwim. 56 'The Dream. But o'er me bend delicious fmiles, and eyes with love that beam : Her own bright felf has broken her image in the dream ! THE LAST WORDS OF MISAWA MENJIRO. ( E brave and faithful in your way: Whatever foolifh men may fay, Heaven fends to every earneft foul \ light to lead it to its goal. \s beyond fight or fcent of fhore, Bewildered by the breakers hoar, The failor never wants a guide Upon the ocean wild and wide ; By day the cranes in fteady flight, By night the North ftar's lovely light. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. RENEWALS ONLYTEL. NO. 642-3405 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. MAY 6 '69 .j? AM LOAM DEPT. | JAN UOA WTERLIBRABYi DEC 07 1990 UNW, OF CALIF SENT ON ILL NQV 1 6 1993 LD 21A-40m-2,'69 General Library University of California Berkeley TfWm . JMft^A^'