Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-02-12

=" The bow sang lOu1,
The arrow few, tho keen steel pierced and
pinned
Serpent aud bird in one close, writhing mass,
Which bounded, plume and scale. from bougn
to bough
Ana rolled down. dead and redeemed
The goddess at her shrine, once more
invoked, gives answer:
We're heard The snake that helped thee must
be born
A beauteous daughter 20 thy wife. Tho Bird
Hath ended an save one hard penitsnce
For which once more no meets the snake, ana
strives.
lie will be Morimtsus son on earth
Morimitsu's promised son, the eagle
like Moritu in strength and daring, be-
coming grown. surpasses all IN feats OF
prowess and nobility of bearing, passing
certain fits OF uncomfortable wildness,
which seize upon him now and then.
Adzuma, Of serpent-hke grace and beau
", the promised daughter. is now the
happy, devoted wife Of Wataru. But
Sakamune, the lago to this Desdemona
and Othello pair, seeks the ruin OF all
three.
" Grant snail 30 7.
! will devise that each one pushes each
70 tears and ruin, while | laugh and watch.
Always Kind sakamune honest frlend!'"
The plot 10 easy to arrange. Tho
imperial procession is to pass by, aud
the world throngs out to witness It, The
eagle and tho snake have never yet met,
carefully needed by Adzuma's mother,
and this is Sakamunes opportunity.
" But now another Joy different Joy
Tho hunters r, not the lover s-yet ~ great,
on greater, keener, deeper; tingliug moro
Tho ylgilsnt sense for shall see today
Destiny dance while 1 DO pipe. Ho-she-
VIII blndly meet, eagle-hot Morltn,
And subtle, lovely, snake-prignt AdLnma
Whose 0eauty-wil she, Will sho-draSs mems
hearts
Moritu's faithful monitor-almost his
conscience-be arer-kameiu, recalls his
masters better self He seems to fear
"The chill that steals tho heat
out Of mems veins, when secret shadows pass,
When nameless perlls creep; tho sense we
have
Keenest for what we love. ani quite outside
WOrk-a-day wtt--Of some twist IN tho path
Which leads % woe and tate.
But the ever false Iago Of the play,
Sakamune, poisons Morltu's mind. dis
pels his good resolves, makes him be-
lleve that he it was who should have had
this wife fair beyond comparison. Nay
more thai she is longing for MoritU
and wishes to bo rid of the clog Wataru,
her husband. And again, Othello-like,
her kindly actions in thanking Moritu
for saving her husbands life are wrenched
to false conclusions. A song, composed
i'll Adzuma's handwriting. is changed to
suit the tenor Of this ylllainy, the eagle
more like gull swallows the bait, his
wild desires oyerpower HIM, he demands
the wife OF her mother, tue letter is
need OF higher proof? can
even mother now doubt her daughters
guilt ?-and if the mother, then what Of
the husband? The poor wife sees clear
the net in which she is enmeshed
- never could have laid these plots quite baro;
He never would hayc lulle1 lingering doubt;
My mothers honor, life, peace, love for me;
My husbands name. his trust "a AdzIina;
My own true innocence, 60 ssfe THIS way
4 nd by no other road. II | should tell
All - Wataru, and this wretch should fall
| nder his yengeful sword, how would be know
/ wrote no wantOn wOrd2 How could men part
Nine honesty from feari IL must be done!
Aye l must make him kill me. Killing mo
My dearest Lord chiefly ache for thee
SO lonely when my pillow Is not there
~ nights-tperchance he'll always keep II by
For thoughts9 But thou wilt know, dear, wilt
How wholly true is-all-always-thln
Yes this must be; Adzuma dead shall free
Adzuma living from all calumny!"
Herein portends the last struggle be.
tween bird and serpent We have little
to add by way of criticism OF this latest
gem that Sir Edwin Arnold has brought
from japanese soil and couched in fair
English setting. The form alternates
from limpld prose to his characteristic
measure whenever the dig
nifty of the utterance demands it. The
Shakesperian trick of occasional rhyming
at the end Of paragraphs and set speeches
is followed. The opposite epigrammatio
line is frequent. g.:
"The luck OF men lives 10 the deeds Of msnn.
- II heart5 Do true and fast.
i'll fate may nurt US, bat not harm, at last
" There comes no evil 70 tue man that's good"
etc.
The suggestion of "Othello" has al
ready been intimated. Wataru's senti-
ment,
- Yet. an loved not honor more than life
Aye, more than AdZuma-I should no. love
Adzuma half so well -
borders perilously nigh on Lovelace's
plant to Lucasta, on going to the
wars
81 could not love thee, dear, so much
Loved not honor more"
With Scene OF the last act the play
really ends, when Mcrtu entering the
house at night by appointment with
Adzuma, thinking to Kill tho husband.
is deceived by the womans guile who
has offered her own he instead on the
altar of her purity and honor and the
desecrater conveys away the head of her
whom be supposed he was to win as
bride. The play must end somehow.
and TO effect this two scenes still ara
added telling OF Moritu's repentance.
the conservation Of both Wataru and
Moritu as Buddhist priests, and the
Staying Of the villain Saksmune.
The third No. of William and Mary
College quarterly Historical Papers.
edited by Lyon q. Tyler, has appeared.
having a table OF contents similar TO
hose of the two preceding issues. The
present one is as follows: Witchcrsft
n Virginia /" journal OF the Meetings
If the President and Masters of William
md Mary College; "The English
Origin of the Carriers" by w. Z. Stan
lrd Spotsylvania County Marriage
Licenses, l726-1744," by w. f. Stansrd
9 Pedigree OF q Representative Virginia
Planter" Digges), by the editor
. Sundry Records from Northam pton.
lancaster, and Elizabeth City Coun.
les "The Virginia Randolphs-
Arms and English Descent" by k. A. |
Brock births and Baptisms, Norfolk
county, Vestry of Elizabeth. River
Parish, and Marriage-Li Licenses from
'rincess Anne County" transcribed by |
edward w. Jones "The McClurg De- |