Yone Noguchi

The Japanese Night (1908)

The scented purple breezes of the Japanese night!
The old moon like a fairy ship of gold
Softly through the dream sea begins to rock on:
(I hear the unheard song of Beauty in the moon ship,
I even hear the whisper of her golden dress.)
The hundred lanterns burning in love and prayer,
Float on streets like haunting memories.
The silvery music of wooden clogs of the Japanese girls!
Are they not little ghosts our of the bosom of ancient age?
Are they returning to fulfill their thousand fancies forgotten?
O the fancy world of the Japanese night
Bourn out of the old love and unfulfilled desires!

For an overview of Noguchi’s relation to English literature see the Bibliography D15. ‘The Japanese Night’ appeared in The Pilgrimage (D15e4).

For a note about Noguchi’s work that is in print see Spirits of Fuji Mountain.