early days of his Japanese enthusiasm, tried his hand at several of them, which were published, along with other matter, in a volume entitled The Classical Poetry of the Japanese, long since out of print. He ventures to disinter from this limbo one of the versions then made, called The Robe of Feathers, which is founded on an ancient tradition localised at Mio, a lovely spot just off the Tōkaidō, near the base of Fuji.[1] The prose portions are rendered literally, the lyrical passages perforce very freely. It is hoped that the total result may succeed in conveying to the reader some idea of the delicate, statuesque grace of this species of composition. If he will keep in mind that music and dancing are of its very essence, he may perhaps be brought to see in it a far-off counterpart of the Elizabethan "masque."
THE ROBE OF FEATHERS.
(HA-GOROMO.)
Dramatis Personæ.
A Fairy. A Fisherman. The Chorus.
Scene.—The shore of Mio, on the Gulf of Suruga.
[The piece opens with a long recitative, in which the Fisherman and the Chorus describe the beauties of Mio's pine-clad shore at dawn in spring. The passage is a beautiful one; but after several efforts at reproducing it in an English form, the translator has had to abandon the task as impossible. At the conclusion of this recitative the Fisherman steps on shore, and the action of the piece commences as follows:[2]—]
- ↑ See Murray's Handbook for Japan, 7th edit., p. 232.
- ↑ The end of the poetical opening of the piece is perhaps fairly rendered by the following lines:—
But hark! methought I saw the storm-clouds flying,
And heard the tempest rave:
Come, fishermen! come homeward plying!—
But no! no tempest frets the wave:
'Tis spring! 'tis spring! 'twas but the morning breeze,
That vocal grew th' eternal pines among;
No murmur rises from th' unruffled seas,
No storm disturbs the thronging boatmen's song!
