. Exotics and retrospectives. whizzing and the clatter,a torrent of rapid ringing tones like the tappingof a gong. These, the last to begin, are also thefirst to cease; then the castanets stop; and finallythe whizzing dies; — but the full orchestra mayremain in operation for several hours at a time,without a pause. Heard from far away at nightthe sound is pleasant, and is really so much likethe ringing of a bridle-bit, that when you firstlisten to it you cannot but feel how much realpoetry belongs to the name of this insect, — cele-brated from of old as playing at ghostly escortin ways where n
. Exotics and retrospectives. whizzing and the clatter,a torrent of rapid ringing tones like the tappingof a gong. These, the last to begin, are also thefirst to cease; then the castanets stop; and finallythe whizzing dies; — but the full orchestra mayremain in operation for several hours at a time,without a pause. Heard from far away at nightthe sound is pleasant, and is really so much likethe ringing of a bridle-bit, that when you firstlisten to it you cannot but feel how much realpoetry belongs to the name of this insect, — cele-brated from of old as playing at ghostly escortin ways where no man can pass. Insect-Musicians 7$ The most ancient poem on the kutsuwamushiis perhaps the following, by the Lady Idzumi-Shikibu: — Waga seko waKoma ni makasdte Kinikeri to,Kiku ni kikasuruKutsuwamushi kanal — which might be thus freely rendered: Listen ! — his bridie rings;—that is surely my husbandHomeward hurrying now—fast as the horse can bear him I . .Ah I my ear was deceived I —only the Kutsuwamushi I. Kant an (natural st\e). 76 Exotics and Retrospectives Kantan. This insect — also called kantan-gisu, andhantan-no-hirigirisu, — is a dark-brown night-cricket. Its note — %i-i-i-i-in — is peculiar:1 can only compare it to the prolonged twang ofa bow-string. But this comparison is not satis-factory, because there is a penetrant metallic qual-ity in the twang, impossible to describe. VI Besides poems about the chanting of particularinsects, there are countless Japanese poems, ancientand modern, upon the voices of night-insects ingeneral, — chiefly in relation to the autumn sea-son. Out of a multitude 1 have selected andtranslated a few of the more famous only, astypical of the sentiment or fancy of some of my renderings. are far fromliteral as to language, I believe that they expresswith tolerable faithfulness the thought and feelingof the originals: — Not for my sake alone, I know, is the autumns coming; —Yet, hearing the insec
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