The life and letters of Lafcadio Hearn . ordesirable tendency. Much of w^hat is called person-ality and individuality is intensely repellent, andmakes the principal misery of Occidental life. Itmeans much that is connected with pure aggressiveselfishness: and its extraordinary development in acountry like America or England seems a confirma-tion of Viscount Torios theory that Western civil-ization has the defect of cultivating the individual atthe expense only of the mass, and giving unboundedopportunities to human selfishness, unrestrained byreligious sentiment, law, or emotional feeling. Wha
The life and letters of Lafcadio Hearn . ordesirable tendency. Much of w^hat is called person-ality and individuality is intensely repellent, andmakes the principal misery of Occidental life. Itmeans much that is connected with pure aggressiveselfishness: and its extraordinary development in acountry like America or England seems a confirma-tion of Viscount Torios theory that Western civil-ization has the defect of cultivating the individual atthe expense only of the mass, and giving unboundedopportunities to human selfishness, unrestrained byreligious sentiment, law, or emotional feeling. What you say about your experience with Japanesepoetry is indeed very telling and very painful to onewho loves Japan. Depth, I have long suspected,does not exist in the Japanese soul-stream. It flowsmuch like the rivers of the country, — over bedsthree quarters dry, — very clear and charminglybeshadowed; — but made temporarily profoundonly by some passional storm. But it seems to methat some tendencies in Japanese prose give hope of. H C >*H o w MH TO BASIL HALL CHAMBERLAIN 41 some beautiful things. There was a story sometime ago in the Asahi Shimbun about a shirabyoshithat brought tears to my eyes, as slowly and pain-fully translated by a friend. There was tendernessand poetry and pathos in it worthy of Le Fanu (Ithought of the exquisite story of Le Fanu, ** A Birdof Passage, simply as a superb bit of tender pathos)or Bret Harte — though, of course, I dont knowwhat the style is. But the Japanese poem, as I judgefrom your work and the Anthologie Japonaise,seems to me exactly the Japanese coloured print inwords, — nothing much more. Still, how the sen-sation of that which has been is flashed into heartand memory by the delicious print or the simplelittle verse. I go to-morrow or the next day to you get the shoryo-bune, let me know. Any ofyour servants can, I think, fix the little masts andpennons in place. A small incense vessel andkawarake with da7igo, o
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