Who gave Himself to save us all.
Some days they little progress made;
Indeed, it seemed the other way;
Unsatisfied with shape or shade,
They scraped their former work away.
A little color here and there
Was added, and perhaps a line
Was drawn again with greater care;
And so they wrought from time to time.
SELECTED POEMS. 27
There came a day when both were done;
They looked upon their work with pride ;
But, glancing from their own to one
Above, they were not satisfied.
Tis thus each one should copy Him
Who came from heaven to be our guide,
Who died to save us from our sin ;
And yet, who can be satisfied?
But if we do the best we can,
Will not the Master say, " Well done!"
And make complete what we began,
When our brief day on earth is done?
Though we should copy every day,
In order that we may succeed,
And follow Him, who is the way,
We each an inward fitness need.
No artist ever yet became,
By copying another s art,
Renowned in song, or known to fame;
True works of art spring from the heart.
The artist must be born, not made;
His own exertions will not make
A genius. Is art a trade
That any one can undertake ?
So, likewise, those who wish to form
The image of the One they love
Upon life s canvas, must be born
A second time, from heaven above.
28 THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
CARE.
Tis Care drives the plow
That furrows the brow.
The silvery hair
Is frosted by Care.
I know where Care stays
By the tracks which he lays;
By tear-bedimmed eyes
And sorrowful sighs.
Corroding Care is everywhere
In mansion grand and attic bare,
On every hand lurks hateful Care.
Would you know how
To stop the plow
That furrows the brow ?
Would you know where
To lose the care
That whitens the hair?
" Come, laden one," we hear Christ say,
" Here at My feet your burden lay ;
I ll help you bear it day by day."
SELECTED POEMS. 29
THE PEACE OF CHRIST.
What peace had Christ, the crucified?
He said, " My peace I give," and then
Went out to bear from cruel men
The scourge, the buffeting, the cross,
To bear the world s great load of sin;
Had Jesus peace? Yes, peace within.
This peace had Christ, the crucified ;
A peace that gave Him power to bear
The dreadful cross, and all the woes
Inflicted by His cruel foes,
Without a murmur; while His prayer
Was made for those who placed Him there.
This peace gives Christ, the crucified,
A peace that, while we follow Him
And suffer, we may feel within
A calmness that the world knows not.
He may not give an easy lot,
But peace within, sweet peace within.
THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
LOVE.
Tis love hath power to change a humble home
Into a very paradise of bliss;
But if tis absent, even palaces
Are cold and cheerless. Yes, tis love alone
Can make a heaven in the next world or this.
It will not be the pearly gates above,
Nor glassy sea, nor streets of purest gold,
Nor all the glories such as we are told
In Revelation make up heaven ; but love,
The love of God and man together rolled.
HOPE.
Hope is full of cheer,
Hovering on sunny wings,
Whispering of better things,
Into every ear;
Helping weary ones to bear
Poverty and pain and care ;
Hope is ever here.
POEMS. 31
PEACE.
*
Peace is a lovely angel with white wings ;
Beatitude is beaming in her face.
The rarest, sweetest blossoms fill her hands ;
Such only bloom in that most favored place
Where sweet Contentment at her labor sings.
Where er the dark and angry clouds of war
Do hang with sullen, threatening aspect o er
Our little world, this angel flies and fans
With her untiring, swiftly-moving wings
The gathering gloom, and drives each cloud that lowers
Away ; then scatters o er the land her flowers.
THE DIVINE WEAVER.
*
The threads of life are gathered up
Into Thy hand divine ;
And as the shuttle of the years
Flies swiftly, and to us appears
A glimpse of Thy design,
We see in part for Thou alone,
Beholding from Omniscient Throne
Canst see the finished web
But from the glimpse we have, we know
The pattern will in beauty grow
Until before us spread
Will be the whole, and not a span,
The work begun when time began,
Complete in every thread.
32 THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
LOVE ABIDES.
Love is ever young and strong;
Passion will grow cold in time;
Love, if true, will last as long
As the heavens; it is divine.
Admiration takes its flight,
When the natural beauty wanes ;
Love depends not on the sight;
Tis immortal and remains.
Love will cease not with the breath ;
Freed from passion, purified,
Stronger far than life or death,
Love forever will abide.
Earthly passions turn to dross,
And so perish; love, like gold
Purified, sustains no loss ;
Love, if true, can ne er grow cold,
POEMS. 33
THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE.
Why should we speak
In Latin or Greek,
Dead as a nail,
And stiff as a rail?
Far above these
A language of ease
Speaks with the eye,
Sometimes in a sigh
Or grasp of the hand,
Which all understand.
These make no slips
Like stammering lips.
Speech born of love
All others above
Learned not at school,
Nor governed by rule,
Comes, without art,
Right out of the heart.
34 THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
THE BIBLE.
The Bible is a mirror, where we see
Ourselves, imperfect, soiled, and clothed in rags ;
But standing near to us, with outstretched hands,
We see the Christ, who beckons us to Him
For cleansing, dress and everything we need.
Approach this mirror with an open face;
Throw off the veil of prejudice, and take
One look at self one look will be enough
Then look on the reflected image there,
Not thine, but God s revealed in Christ our Lord.
With bended knee, gaze on that lovely face
Until His likeness forms within thy soul,
And self will be transformed, not lost, but raised
From glory unto glory, till you bear
In your own features, God s, your Maker s, grace.
From glory unto glory, till at last,
The one you dimly saw reflected there,
You shall in perfect beauty clearly see.
Then face to face. The glass may pass away ;
You ll need it not in heaven s brighter day.
SELECTED POEMS. 35
THE GOSPEL MINE.
On old Pacific s wave-washed shore
There is a Golden Gate;
Through this, for thirty years or more
Borne by the stream of fate
The Japanese have found their way
To western lands ; a while to stay
Within the Golden State.
A few who came with hopes and fears
Found here a richer mine
Than any found by pioneers
Who came in forty-nine.
This precious treasure still remains,
And all who will may take up claims
To riches for all time.
And rich, indeed, is he who finds,
Here, in the Golden State,
The treasures of the Gospel Mines,
Where riches still await
The earnest seekers, young and old,
Who enter through the gate of gold,
Borne by the stream of fate.
36 THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
TO REV. M. C. HARRIS, D. D.
Upon the completion of fifteen years of labor for the Japanese
on the Pacific Coast.
Dear doctor, since you first came here,
The flying shuttle of the year
Has sped some fifteen times ;
And every year the pattern grew
In loveliness, as, added new,
Were other graceful lines.
Thank God, the thread of life holds strong !
And may the time be very long
Before the set of sun;
When every thread shall be complete,
The web spread at the Master s feet,
You hear the sweet, " Well done!"
SELECTED POEMS. . 37
BETTER THAN GOLD.
Better the word of the Lord than much gold ;
Better than anything e er bought or sold ;
Better than treasures, which men cannot hold ;
Better than gold, yes, better than gold.
Better the story its pages unfold;
Better than anything else ever told ;
Better the treasures it holds, new and old;
Better than gold, yes, better than gold.
Better than money-bags soon to grow old ;
Better than anything destined to mold;
Better than stories which pall when once told;
Better than gold, yes, better than gold.
38 THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN,
GOLDEN WORDS.
Words, when fitly spoken,
Are like to fruit of gold,
And fairer than the apple
Which jealous Eris rolled
Among the guests assembled
Upon the wedding day
Of Peleus and Thetis,
Which caused an awful fray,
Words, when fitly spoken,
Will heal a breaking heart ;
Loving words, like ointment,
Will take away the smart.
Gold oft causes discord,
Like Eris golden ball;
Golden words are better,
And in the reach of all.
SELECTED POEMS. 39
BELLICOSE BELLS IN ENGLAND.
From yonder graceful steeple high,
That points straight upward to the sky,
Eight bells call out to passers by:
" This is the true and only church
All others leave you in the lurch
The mother church, the church of Rome,
Come home ! Come home ! Come home ! Come home !"
A little church with steeple slight,
And one coarse bell, quite impolite,
Most brazenly made this reply :
" T sa He! T sa lie! T sa lie! T sa lie!"
Another church with steeple grand,
A temple aided by the land,
Called out, "O people, understand,
This is God s church ! Oh, cease your strife !
The place, of all, to God most dear ;
We teach the way, the truth, the life.
Ccme here ! Come here ! Come here ! Come here !"
Again, I heard same bell dissent ;
A little bell on discord bent,
In angry tones make this reply:
" T sa He! T sa lie! T sa lie! T sa lie!"
4O THE: SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
OUR SHIELD.
You ve read the story of Elaine, the fair,
Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat,
Who guarded in her tower, with jealous care,
The scarred and blazoned shield of Lancelot ;
And how she made for it a cover rare,
To shield the shield from any rust or spot.
You ve read how she would daily climb the tower,
Strip off the case, and read the naked shield,
And gaze on its depressions by the hour,
And guess the meaning which each dent revealed:
" This but a scratch, while that one shows the power,
Such as a mighty arm alone could wield."
" This made at Camelot, and that elsewhere ;"
"This scar," she thought,"was new and that one old ;
And ah, God s mercy! what a stroke was there!
And this blow would have killed, had not God rolled
The great foe down, and saved the brave knight there."
And " so she lived in fantasy " we re told.
Tis well, at times, to bar the chamber door,
And thus, in secret, gaze upon our shield ;
Far richer and more precious in its lore
Than that which earthly armor e er revealed.
The Saviour is the Shield, Who for us bore
The fiercest onslaught that our foe could wield.
SELECTED POEMS. 41
See ! on the brow are scars which show the place
Where cruel thorns were pressed, and on the back
Are marks made by the lash, and on the face
Are signs of smiting ; and behold the track
Of nails in feet and hands which richest grace
Dispensed, supplying many people s lack.
And there, behold that scar upon the breast!
Which marks the place the soldier s spear went in ;
Had not our Shield received this and the rest,
And broken there our foe s strong lance of sin,
We would have died, instead of being blest
To share forever heaven s joys with Him.
THE GREAT PHYSICIAN.
The Great Physician s sympathizing heart
Is moved to pity by the cruel smart
That any of His loved ones have to bear ;
He mixes for each one the cup with care,
And puts in not one bitter drop too much ;
He stills life s fever with His soothing touch ;
Each untoward symptom, by His wise control
Is mastered, till the loved ones are made whole.
42 THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
JESUS SAW THE SIGNAL.
In a ward lay little Bobbie ;
Both his legs were crushed and torn
By a truck; and close beside him
Sat a comrade, Billy Dorn.
" Bobbie," said his young companion,
Bending o er the iron cot,
" Have you ever heard of Jesus ?"
" No," said Bobbie, " I have not."
"Well, a teacher at the Mission
Told us, when a feller dies,
If we axed Him, He would take us
To His home up in the skies."
" There is never cold nor hunger,
Pain, nor cause for any tear."
" What a jolly place !" said Bobbie,
" Not for like of us, I fear."
" Teacher said," continued Billy,
" Jesus never turns away
Any feller cause he s ragged,
And has not a cent to pay."
SELECTED POEMS. 43
" Wish I knew where I could find him ;
But it is no use to know;
If I knew/ sighed weary Bobbie,
" Without legs how could I go ?"
" Teacher said that Jesus passes
By, and you can speak to Him."
" Oh, that I might see Him, Billy,
But the lights are growing dim!"
" Raise your hand, and He will see you. 3
Languidly poor Bobbie tried ;
But it fell because of weakness,
In a moment, at his side.
" I m too weak," sighed weary Bobbie.
" I will help you," Billy said ;
And all night he propped the little
Arm upon the iron bed.
Jesus passed. He saw the signal ;
Took poor Bobbie to that home
Where there is no cold nor hunger,
Whence the inmates never roam.
44 THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
INTOLERANCE.
Some call a man intolerant
Because he tries to fight
The gambling-hells and grog-shops,
And sin with all his might ;
Because he hates corruption,
And everything untrue;
If this is called intolerant,
I would be called so, too.
Some call a man intolerant
Because he does his best
To put a stop to traffic
Upon the day of rest;
And yet his heart may throb with love
For Gentile and for Jew.
If this is called intolerant
I would be called so, too.
SELECTED POEMS. 45
THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR.
The year is done; its record is complete.
Another leaf is turned, another sheet
In life s account-book, and before your eyes
The new year, like a page unsullied, lies.
Soil not the clean, white page as you begin
Another record; blot it not with sin;
But let the writing be both fair and true ;
Not such as you will be ashamed to view,
Or seek to wash away with bitter tears,
As you behold it in the coming years.
The years are flying swiftly ; each when passed
Should show a better record than the last ;
Until the book of life again you give
To Him Who gave to you this life to live,
And Who is proving by your doings here
Your fitness for existence in that sphere
Where years are numbered by no little world
Revolving round the sun; for there unfurled
Eternity shall stretch through endless time,
And you shall enter on the life divine.
46 THE; SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
A CLEAN RECORD.
Much better the vessel should never be broken,
Than shattered and mended again ;
What hand hath the requisite skill to restore,
And make it again what it had been before
It fell ? Is it not so with men ?
THE HIDDEN FUTURE.
Tis well we have not power to look
Within life s sealed, mysterious book,
And read what s written for us there
If we upon that page could glance,
We might lack courage to advance
Upon a path beset with care.
Enough for us that God knows all
That must to each of us befall,
For He alone marks out our way ;
And He will give us power to bear
Each burden, and will with us share
The load we carry day by day.
PART SECOND
CONTENTS OF PART SECOND.
THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
The Spirit of Yamato ...................................... 49
The Creation of Japan ..................................... 50
Match-Making ............................................ 51
The Birth of the Gods ..................................... 52
The Pouting Sun-Goddess ................................. 54
An Afternoon Tea for Men ................................ 55
The Thunder God ......................................... 56
Masamune s Swords ......................... . ............. 56
The Samurai s Children .................................... 58
The Wind God ............................................ 60
A Japanese Nobleman s Dream ............................. 60
Susano Kills the Dragon ................................... 62
Japanese Dreams of the Home Land ........................ 63
The Emperor s Three Treasures ............................ 64
Japanese Art .............................................. 65
The Emperor s Birthday .................................... 66
Earthquakes ......... ...... ............................... 67
Nature Worship .................. . ........................ 67
Japanese Wall Decorations ................................. 68
The Seventh Night ........................................ 69
JAPANESE FAVORITE FLOWERS, TREES AND BIRDS
The Plum ................................................. 70
The Lotus ................................................. 71
Morning-Glories .......................................... 72
The Chrysanthemum ....................................... 73
The Cherry ................................. * .............. 74
The Bamboo ............................................... 75
The Pine .................................................. 76
The Nightingale ........................................... 77
The Lark ...................................... ............ 78
The Swallow ............................ .................. 79
The Hototogisu ............................................ 80
The Crane ................................................. 81
The Pomegranate .......................................... 82
The Willow ............................................... 83
Our Attitude .............................................. 83
Reverence for Age ......................................... 84
The Spirit of Yamato.
PART SECOND
THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN
THE SPIRIT OF YAMATO.
When the sun ascends the eastern sky,
And the cherry blooms perfume the air,
There is something comes to the Samurai
Like the voice of an incense-laden prayer ;
And a whisper says : " It is sweet to die
At the Master s call; but never fly."
With their delicate fleeting, fragrant breath,
The magnificent petals that quickly fall,
To the Samurai s spirit speak of death,
For they say in language known to all:
" We relinquish our hold on the parent trees,
And we fall at the call of the morning breeze."
5O THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
CREATION OF JAPAN.
A god and goddess took their stand
Upon the rainbow bridge that spanned
The heaving, shoreless sea,
Until that time, we understand
Was water only, for the land
Had not begun to be.
Thus, standing o er the wide expanse
Of sea, the god thrust in his lance ;
At once the drops congealed.
Then, lo ! that matchless chain of isles
Which stretches full two thousand miles,
In beauty stood revealed.
There stood the mountain crowned with snow,
The azure lakes reposed below,
Like mirrors for the skies,
The waterfalls and streams that gleam,
And fields and woods in living green,
In nature s fairest dyes.
All other lands are from the foam
Of ocean made; Japan alone
Came from the jeweled spear.
No wonder that this land most blessed,
The first created and the best,
To Japanese seems dear.
The Birth of the Gods.
THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN. 5!
MATCH-MAKING.
Every year, upon the last day
Of the ninth month, the believers
In the Shinto faith assemble
At the shrines to hold their farewell
Meetings for gods of Nippon,
Who at that time make a journey.
In the province of Izumo,
At the grave of brave Susano,
Who laid low the fearful dragon,
Which devoured the maids of Nippon,
For a month the gods assemble,
To arrange for future bridals.
Here, unseen by earthly mortals,
Gods select the youths and maidens
Who will in the year to follow
Be united to each other
In the holy bands of wedlock.
What an anxious time for lovers !
One month later, the disciples
Meet at Shinto shrines to welcome
Back the gods, and in the wooing,
Which is always sure to follow,
Urge that those by gods united,
Men should not attempt to sunder.
52 THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
THE BIRTH OF THE GODS.
Two heavenly beings, Yo and In,
Stepped down from the rainbow bridge,
To the beautiful earth, undefiled with sin ;
And sacred to many since then has been
The bold Kirishima s ridge.
Then Yo on the left side, and In on the right,
Explored the magnificent isle,
So lately awakened from chaos and night.
Through paradise crowded with every delight,
They wandered for many a mile.
/
They circle the beautiful island and meet
Again on the opposite shore ;
" To meet such a lovely companion is sweet !
The goddess exclaimed, in her joy to greet
Her heavenly lord once more.
The goddess spoke fiVst, as a goddess will,
Which angered her spouse divine;
Who, vexed at this liberty, bade her be still,
And also to make, for opposing his will,
The journey a second time.
They circled the island and met again
Once more on the other side ;
" How sweet is the pleasure," cried Yo, who began,
" To meet such a goddess as you, in Japan !
Together now let us abide."
THE: SPIRIT OF JAPAN. 53
Thus, love had beginning, and from it there sprung
Both the gods and people of earth ;
The first was a daughter, the radiant sun,
Called Ama-Terasu, the glorious one,
Transferred to the sky from her birth.
The second, a daughter called Tsuki, the moon,
Resembling the sun, but less bright;
At first they reigned jointly, but poor Tsuki soon
Offended her sister, who ordered the moon
To show herself only at night.
The third was Hiruko, a cripple, and he
At three was unable to stand ;
So making a boat from a sweet camphor tree,
They set him afloat on the wide open sea,
The first of the fisherman s band.
The fourth was a scape-grace, Susano by name,
Who ruled o er the great, restless sea ;
His spirit the gods were unable to tame ;
He trod down the rice-fields again and again,
His sister had sown on the lea.
The gods of the mountains, the thunder and rain,
The gods of the rivers and earth,
The god of the winds and the god of flame,
With myriad others, too many to name,
From these we have mentioned had birth.
54 THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
THE POUTING SUN-GODDESS.
One day, as the sun-goddess sat at her loom,
Her vexatious brother threw into the room
A hide that was reeking, just stripped from a horse;
The goddess was angry at conduct so coarse ;
She wept and she frowned, and in order to pout
She entered a cave and refused to come out ;
But shutting herself in an adamant tomb,
She left the poor world in the deepest of gloom.
The gods tried to coax the bright one to come out ;
They built her a palace both ample and stout;
They made for her jewels and beautiful clothes,
And also a mirror her charms to disclose ;
When all things were ready, they gathered before
The mouth of her cavern, with adamant door ;
They played upon instruments, one danced and sung,
The others all shouted till the heavens rung.
The sun-goddess wondered on hearing their glee,
How could they rejoice and she absent. To see
The cause of their mirth, she peeped out of the door,
And saw in the mirror, which one held before,
Her own lovely face ; ne er before were such charms
Revealed by a mirror ; a god with strong arrns
Held open the door of the cavern, and then
They led out the goddess to daylight again.
The gods to her brother gave punishment dire ;
They plucked every hair from his head in their ire ;
They pulled out the nails from his fingers and toes ;
And banished the wretch to the kingdom of woes.
The sun-goddess never again hid her light;
She shines save when sleeping, which causes the night.
Her sister called Tsuki instead then holds sway,
Till cocks by their crowing awaken the day.
THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN. 55
AN AFTERNOON TEA EOR MEN.
How queer it seems, a tea for men !
It does seem rather strange, but then
All things were strange in old Japan,
And that s where teas like this began,
Six hundred years or so ago.
The tea was picked in early spring,
When things are fresh, and gay birds sing
Their sweetest songs ; then stored away
In jars until the proper day,
Six hundred years or so ago.
They spoke of literature and art,
Made poems, each one taking part,
But never gossiped o er their tea;
They set the pace for you and me,
Six hundred years or so ago.
All sipped the tea from one fair bowl,
A fragrant font, where soul met soul ;
Twas like communion in Japan;
And that s where teas like this began,
Six hundred years or so ago.
56 THE SPIRIT OF JAPAN.
THE THUNDER GOD.
The thunder god rides on the cloud,
And plays upon his arch of drums,
Producing music soft or loud ;
And as he strikes, there often comes
A flash of vivid, blinding light,
Which turns to day the darksome night.
MASAMUNE S SWORDS.
Masamune hated pelf,
But he welded his own self
Into every shining blade
That he made.
True as steel in which he wrought,
Pure as dew in every thought,