full bevy of court nobles,
17 the green leafery defieth a thousand autumns unshowing any change of hue—well worthy, belike, the Pine-tree is of the badge of rank bestowed upon it by China’s Sovran Shikwo!
18 In barbarian lands, within our own borders, by all the peoples of earth, is not the Pine-tree held blessed?
| Ancient |
Hark! I hear
the solemn tone of Onöe’s bell
by Takasago.
|
| Chorus |
Though with the daydawn
the hoarfrost shineth chilly
the Pine-tree ever
unchang’d its leafery showeth,
in the deep green shadow
or morn or evening
the fallen leaves we sweep,
yet ever fall they,
for true it is that never
yon leafery perisheth,
and ages long endureth
the Pine-tree’s greenery
as wild moor-creeper endless,
among the trees
that keep their freshness ever
deathless the fame is
of the Pine of Takasago
for ay a symbol,
äiöinomatsu,
and sign of wedded joyance.
|
| Chorus19 |
Well have ye told the ancient story of the Pine-trees whose everlasting bloom hath earned such fame, but, Sir and Dame, tell me how ye be called. |
| Ancient and Dame |
Why should we not tell them, we are the spirits of the Pine-trees of Takasago and Suminoye that grow old together. As a wedded pair do we present ourselves. |
| Chorus |
Now are manifest the wedded spirits. O wonder! such then is the mystery of the Pine-trees that o’ershadow these famous strands.20 |
| Ancient and Dame |
Though plants and trees be things unquick— |
| Chorus |
In this auspicious age— |
| Ancient and Dame |
Or trees or herbs— |
| Chorus |
In this our land
our mighty Sovran ruleth
beneath his sway
’tis good to live21 forever,
and Sumiyoshi
where fair it is to dwell
our wanderer fain
would seek, and humbly there
the god await—
wherefore ’tis now he climbeth
on fisher’s bark
anigh the sea-marge floateth,
and forth he fareth
by favouring breezes wafted,
across the waters
the evening waters fareth.
|
| Tomonari |
From Takasago
on fisher’s bark I climb
and sail away
far o’er the waves of ocean
as the pale moon riseth,
under Awaji’s shadow
I cleave the waters
’yond roaring Naruwo faring,
till Sumiyoshi
I reach, fair Sumiyoshi!
|
Act II
Scene. The Strand of Sumiyoshi in Settsu.
Chorus. The God of Sumiyoshi.
| God of Sumiyoshi |
Entering.22
Long ’tis since saw I
the Princess Pine that groweth
by Sumiyoshi
nor knoweth, belike, the Sovran
how many an age through
my grace on him hath rested;
and now for generations
as palace-fence enduring,
to cheer my heart
be the sacred mime enacted,
wherefore the night drums
bring, and beat out their music,
ye servants of the shrine.
|
| Chorus |
From the western sea
from where the waves are breaking
upon Aoki—23
|
| God of Sumiyoshi |
cometh the holy Presence,
in this fair spring-tide
when the Tree Divine full flourisheth,
and still the snows lie
lightly on As’kagata—24
|
| Chorus |
where men do gather
on the strand rich seaweed harvest—
|
| God of Sumiyoshi |
at foot of the ancient Pine-tree
I will recline me—
|
| Chorus |
with a thousand years’ green leafery
his25 hands full filled be—
|
| God of Sumiyoshi |
and spray of plum-tree gathered
my head adorning—
|
| Chorus |
like latest snows of winter
the blossoms deck him.
|
| Chorus |
To the god of Sumiyoshi, since clear the moon shineth, let us offer thanks and praise, and for many an age adore his Presence that deigneth to take pleasure in this fair abode. |
| God of Sumiyoshi |
The virgin voices,
how clear is their music
beneath the Pine-tree
of bright-shored Suminoye,
as featly dance they
to the air of the “Blue Sea Wave”
by the blue sea where
the shadow is reflected
of the Princess Pine-tree.
|
| Chorus |
The way of god and Sovran
towards City-Royal
will now be straightway wended26
this fair spring season—
|
| God of Sumiyoshi |
’Tis the Dance of “Joyeuse Rentrée”
|
| Chorus |
for years ten thousand
|
| God of Sumiyoshi |
in ritual vestments
|
| Chorus |
let arms extended
all ill fend from the land,
and arms fair-folded
embrace all happiness,
and make the folk glad
with the “Joy of a Thousand Autumns,”
long life give all men
with the “Joy of a Myriad Years”—
äiöinomatsu
among the Wedded Pine-trees
growing old together
may gentle winds forever
wake music ever haunting
and ever the world enchanting!27
|
Sakuragawa
The Cherry-Blossom River
Argument
The following is a rendering of the greater part of Sakuragawa. There are some omissions—of passages that defied any approach to adequate translation—but the fragments remaining will perhaps give an idea of the spirit of this play, which differs considerably in subject and in manner from the two preceding selections.
Sakuragawa is, in fact, one of a group of pieces (Kiōjo mono) in which the chief personage is a madwoman. Such are Sumida-gawa, possibly the best, where a mother, driven mad by grief at losing her child, wanders forth in search, to hear by chance that he is dead; Hanjo, where a girl deranged by parting roams the countryside until she finds her lover; Minadzuki-barai, where a wife, lost by her husband, is found by him raving before a shrine, praying that she may meet him; Hyakuman, and several others of similar construction.
It will be gathered that the type shows little variety. There is no attempt to depict madness, except perhaps by a slight emphasis of the usual incoherence of the chanted words.
In Sakuragawa the lyric passages are a potpourri of flower-conceits. The masses of blossom are compared to clouds, or to a billowing sea; and when the wind comes and scatters them, they are waves breaking from above, they are snow, and they are dreams. All the stock fancies are there, woven together by the Chorus and the Madwoman, and through the whole runs a continuous thread of allusion, now understood, now expressed, to the likeness of name between the River and the lost child, “Sakurago.”
