The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-06-26
YONE NOGUCHI WHOSE JAPANESE IDYLS HAVE
MADE HIM A DOMINANT LITERARY FIGURE

IN Japan the song never diSs in the
heart.
1t is fadeless.
It is the song of sailing clouds. the
noisless echo Of the opening of lotus
blossoms.
It is a lullaby of stars.
There are two pretty customs in that
land of shining, sensate things.
The old men sit out under the blossom
ing cherry trees and compose little poems
on rice paper and pin them upon the
branches for the spirits of the trees to
read.
In Japan a woman win write a
poem and send it to her next door neigh
Dor, and it goes on to third and fourth
madame chrysanthemum.
Japanese verse is SO different from
all other verse;
'The striking phenomenal difference be-
tween Japanese and all other poetry is
| its close touch to nature. All, yes, Japan
is all poetry"
This is japan as seen through the eyes
of Yone 'Noguchi the Japanese dreamer
| Japan has been waiting for SUCH
/ dreamer.
In Japan when cherry tree gives
birth to spring blossoms, 1t is no Tess
wonderful than the opening of lotus
4.,ey are shrines before which all Japan
kneels.
There are other voices in that land of
! yellow afternoon.
There are the voices of the seas pas
sions moving the shore.
Then the wonderful silences OF Japanl
Noguchi makes you feel the mystery of
silence, the silvery peace Of dawns, of
twilights
With him you may put your ear to the
sea and the silence of the stars will be
as great as the. voice of the seas.
You can see the beauty of spring flashes,
the freshness of the eastern sea at morn.
There are a thousand shining stars.
there are beds of eastern flowers.
Beyond this is
"A garden of the cherry blossom
In a far-off isle you may know,
By the fairy name of Nippon
So much has recently been written Of
the poet, is being written of him every
day, that book could easily be COM
piled on 1.-THE Art of Becoming Acquaint-
ed with Mr.. Noguchi." There are indeed
numerous and charming introductions to
him. Rosette, owen Meredith, lie Gal
lienne, a score of others, and perhaps all
the criticism directed to his work Is
needed in order for the western world to
fully enter into the spirit of Mr.. Noguchiis
poems.
We know what Yone Noguchi, the jap
anese dreamer, could bring from his
eastern world by what has reached us
from out that picture land. But no
writer from that wonderful land of
dreams, of silvery nights, of gardens Of
moonbeams, of apiate mists, has ever
brought to the western world the mystic
beauty the subtitle charm that has In that
single little volume From the Eastern
Sea-"
! Certainly no author of his generation
means as much to the literature of Japan
as Mr.. Noguchi and 1t may be said that
no writer Is more directly influencing the
thought of the western world regarding
Japanese literary achievements than this
young dreamer.
Mr.. Noguchi has been In this country
several years. He came first to San Fran
cisco and later wandered in to the west
ern haunts of joaquin Miller, the poet of
the Sierras.
and will leave early this morning for Ra-
| jah Lodge.
Mrs. Aldrlch Is looking particularly
| charming and her brilliancy of mind and
! graciousness of manner make her unus-
ual She was very handsome yesterday
at an informal luncheon in a champagne
tinted silk, her hat matching her gown
and later, on her drive she wore a long
coat OF heavy green silk, richly trimmed
with lace.