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Title Yone Noguchi in W. B. Yeats's (2) : Hokku

Author(s) MARX, Edward

Citation 愛媛大学法文学部論集. 人文学科編. vol.19, no., p.109-125

Issue Date 2005-09-30

URL http://iyokan.lib.ehime-u.ac.jp/dspace/handle/iyokan/3212

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This document is downloaded at: 2017-10-15 14:58:48

IYOKAN - Institutional Repository : the EHIME area http://iyokan.lib.ehime-u.ac.jp/dspace/ Yone Noguchi in W．B．Yeats’s Japan（2） Hokku

Edward Marx

In the first p鮒。f this essay I肛gued that Yone Noguchi p互ayed a profound role in Wi1h㎜Butler Yeats’s conception of the NO d■㎜a by advising the Irish poet to study No as ear1y asユ907．1〕 Yeats never public1y acknow1edged血e influence of Noguchi，whose name appeaエs nowhere in Yeats’s published w㎡tings，and

Noguchi’s cridca1involvement in the cu1tura1export of NO to the West has been alI but forgotten． But Noguchゴs association with Yeats did not end there． It was

㎞ei正fエiendship that ne町1y bIought Yeats to Japan in1920・ And whi1e Yeats neve正 public1y ac㎞owledged Noguchi，he did leave，ne肌the end of his1ife and at the height of his fame，a profound if enigmatic clue to Noguchi’s importmce in his poem，“Imitated from the Japanese，”a conspicuousIy p1aced poem由at was in fact a rewor㎞ng of a t［anslation by Noguchi－ But even this gesture has gone umoticed by generations of1iteraTy histo㎡ans．．

Although Noguchi’s understanding of NO was not profound，11e had exce11ent he1p．Inユ918，he had st舳ed a new acade㎞cjouma1wi㎞two fomer students of Emest Feno11osa，KenzO Wadagaki（和田垣謙三1860－1919）㎝d 醐。hi

“Tokuboku”Hirata（平田禿木1873一ユ943）；they were joined by another Tokyo

University graduate，Choko Ikuta（生田長江1882一ユ936）．Himta，Pem11osa’s junior co11eague at the Tokyo Higher Normム1Schoo1，had been Fenollosa’s NO

ユ09一 Edw肛d M肛x trans1ator．The e1der Wadagaki－one of Feno11osa’s first students at Tokyo

University and now a distinguished professor of1aw，economics，and1iterature there

■was a1so am amateur NO practitioner and Chinese scho1町。f conside正ab1e abi1ity， who undoubtedly contributed much to Noguchi’s trans1ations．1〕 A1though Ch6kO

Ikuta had entered Tokyo University too1ate to study with Fenollosa or He皿n he had a1so felt their in刊uence in va二dous ways． As a youth he had been profound1y affected by曲e witings of Feno11osa－tr㎡ned refom㎡st Buddhist phi1osopher Manshi

種yozawa（清沢満之1863－1903），and he had been encoumged in his studies by

Bin Ueda，who had given him the pen－n㎜e，ChOkO－In addition to editing and teaching（at an e1ite Tokyo gir1’s schooi），Ikuta was血ans1ating the comp1ete works of Nietzsche．The magazi皿e produced by this remarkab1e group，〃goあ〃η8o是〃

（English Lite正ature）was aimed at Japanese scho1ars of Eng1ish and inc1uded in its pages a number of Noguchi’s舳ic1es and NO廿ans1ations．

It was a1most certainly the〃goわ砒η8α疋〃 group that cooked up the19ユ9 invitation that very near1y brought Yeats to Japan inユ920for a two－ye町joint vilitingappointmlntatTokyoandKei6univerlitiel－1nthelu㎜erof！919，Yeatl responded favorab1y to the invitation，thinking he wou1d undertake the位ip fonowing his upcoming American lecture tou正・ “I have just been invited to1ecture for岬。 years in Japan at a university there but have not had time to decide anything，”he wrote John Quinn on Ju1y11．1919、 “It wou1d be p1easant to go away unti1the tumu1t of wa］r had died down，and perhaps Home Ru1e estab1ished，and even the price of coa1settled on．But wou1d one ever come back？一would one f㎞d some grass－grown city，scarce inhabited since the tenth century，where one seemed su叩assing rich on a few hundred a year？”ヨ〕 He was sti11 writing enthusiastica11y to friends about the p1an as late as November15，but there was opposition， appropriate1y emugh，from the spirit wor1d－in the n㎜e of a cert出n“Ameritus” who spoke to Yeats血rough his wife’s automadc writing。 “I s㎡d before no Japm next ye肛，”Amehtus decIeed in mid－November，reminding Yeats that he was to

ユエO一 Y㎝e Noguchi in W．B．Yeats’s Japan（2〕 Ho汰u whte a book of philosophy（presumab1y theわ。ok that becameλ耽わ〃），and urging him to send a te1egram rejecting the invitation－4〕But Yeats w早s app趾ently not persuaded by血is spectr最directive，When Noguchi met him in New York in1ate

January ofユ920－both were there on lecture tours a∬a皿ged by the J．B．Pond

Lyceum Bureau－and asked whether he intended to come to Jap㎝，he aエ1swered，

“Yes！”Hirata inc1uded a note on“M正．Yeats who is coming to Japan”in the

J㎜u町ユ920issue of励8oあ〃η8α此〃．5〕Yeats also seems to have in耐。duced

Noguchi to his Japmese daIlcer Michio Itow（then mnning a Madis㎝Avenue dance

・・h・・1）i・・皿1yF・bm・・y16〕

There was，一however，a finmcia1obstac1e to the p1an for Yeats’s visit，which

Noguchi confronted when he retumed to Japan in mid－Maエ。h－KeiO was prepared to hand1e its end of the ba］＝9ain，and KeiO’s present visiting1ecturer，I㎡sh TheosgPhist－ poet James Cousins，was shipped back to India on March22．7〕But the Keiδsa1ary was not rea11y sufficient for a poet of Yeats’s stature，one reason for the intended joint apPointment with Tokyo University，But KenzO Wadagaki had died in Ju1y

ユ9ユ9，short1y after the invitation to Yeats had been made．Wadagaki，in addition to professoria1 chair，had he1d v㎞ous high－r㎝king administrative positions

（Secretary of the University and member of the Board of Counci11ors，among others）；without him，肛angements evident1y proved diffi㎝lt，Some other source of funding had to be found．

Noguchi somehow communicated the news to Yeats，then in Oregon．“We are not going to Japan．At玉east not for the present，”Yeats explained to Edmund Dulac on M孤。h22．“The offer from there g正ew vaguer and the expe皿se of1ivi㎎is immense．Weshou1dbeban㎞ptbeforewereachedTokyo．州1nthesame1etter，

Yeats told Du1ac of“a rather wonde㎡u1冊ng”that had happened two days ear1ier．

“A very distinguished1oo㎞ng Japanese came to see us．He had read my poe町 when in Japan and had now just heard me1ecture．He had something in his hand wrapped up in embroidered silk．” @His name was JunzO SatO，and he was in

11ユ Edw趾d M肛x

0regon researching㎝ned food for the Minis岬。fAg㎡cu1ture and Co㎜erce－

The object in his hand was a13th－century sword hmded down in his fami1y tl■rough many generations．In his pubhshed a㏄ounts，SatO always said he acted on his impu1se，never suggesting any connection between his g批 and the prob1em conceming the19201ecture invitation．But he did ac㎞ow1edge his comection t0

HOjin Yano，a cIose fhend of his cousin． Yano，star pupil of the late Bin Ueda and Hakuson Kuriyagawa，had graduated廿。m Kyoto University in1918．It was

Yano who later visited Yeats in Ire1㎜d inユ926；canツing Noguchi’s1etter of introductign，㎜d subsequently urged Yeats to玉ecture at Taihoku Imperial University in Taiwan．If his fhend SatO’s extraordinary g批was mere1y a coincidence，the timing was rema］rkable indeed．9〕

Not1ong after his retum，Noguchi found a so1ution to the economic difHcu1ty．

AnewspaperinOsalka－app酊ehtlytheA∫o励∫肋η舳〃一waswi11ingtosponsor

Yeats’s visit，covering the remainder of his expenses，But㎝＝aI1gements between the university adm㎞istration and the newspaper proved comp1icated，and before they could be reso1ved，Yeats wrote，saying he was ob1iged to retum to Ire1㎜d for ce耐ain reasons．He and his wife dep舳ed for London at此e end of May．ユ。〕

In1920and192！Noguchi pub1ished half a dozen books in Eng1ish and one book of poems in Japanese（his first）」but his book of Nδtramslations was not

㎜ong them． “It is on1y t㎞ough a㏄urate scho1arship that the‘sou1of ’cap be

㎞own to the West，”A血hur Wa1ey insisted㎝the first page ofτ伽Mo乃〃。ツsψ

Jαρ伽、pub1ished in Maエ。h ofユ921一“A㏄urate scholarship”more or1ess exc1uded anything whtten by Y㎝e Noguchi，and this was probab1y intentional－That Wa1ey had a great antipa血y for Noguchi was demonstrated the fo11owing yeaエwhen he published an anonymous attack in the乃mes Lferαα∫ψμeme耐，accusing Noguchi of trying“to g釧1op before he can trot，to be decorative and epigrammatic before he is even secure1y inte11igib1e，”among a host of other orimes，inc1uding excessive use of first－person pronouns．Jψ伽ese Ho肋〃∫ （ユ920），which Noguchi dedicated to

皿112山 Yone Noguchi in W．B．Y巳ats’s Jap㎝（2）一Hok㎞

Yeats，was a critica1failure：it was compaエed unfavorab1y to Waley’s Jαρ伽ese

Poe加っフin the D土。正，criticized for its “cacaphonous 1ines，often in positive1y bad gr㎜肛”i仙1〃1舳舳，mdp11it11ylklwlrllly11nFljit1i1P1仰mg11i11．

The1920repub1ication of Noguchi’s fi正st book of verse，∫eeη伽4σηse例，by

Orientalia（Amnda Coom趾asw㎜ユy’s New York bookshop）was questioned by a reviewer in the usua11y sympathetic London Boo此m伽，who thought it a“senseless” co11ection of“ 垂Patitudes and posturings．”／1〕A vo1ume of∫eJeαe6Poe舳 （ユ92ユ） and Noguchi’s co11ection of American1ectures，Jαρ伽m∂Amrfcα（192ユ），received a few favorab1e reviews from fhends1ike Rich皿d LeGa11iεnne and Padraic Co1um， and V㎜Wyck Brooks became rather fond of quoting Noguchi’s comment，in the

1atter book，仇at America seemed to be“刊。ating comfortably on㎞e ocea皿a11by itse1f，as if a we11－fed sea1or Iazy iceberg．”12〕 But it was Noguchi’s i11ustrated

〃ro∫〃ge（ユ92ユ），brought out by E1kin Mathews and Orien舳a，that received the most praise．It was this book that Yeats discussed in his one known1etter t0

Nog口。hi on27June1921：

Though I have been so long in whting your“Hiroshige”has given me the

gTeatest pleasuTe．I take more md more p1easure from ohentaユ舳；find more

and more that it a㏄ords with what I aim at in my own work．The European

painter of the Iast two or three hundred years grows strange to me as I grow

o1der，begins to speak as with a foreign tongue．When a Japanese，or Mogu1，

or Chinese painter seems to say，“Have I not drawn a beautiful scene”，one

ag正ees at once，but when a modem Europem painter says so one does not agree

・・q・i・kly，if・t・ユ1．ユ3〕

What Yeats admired about Asian art was its simp1icity，so different from the modem sty1es of the㎞sh航ists Augustus John and SiI Winiam Orpen≡“A11your p抵nteエs are simple，”he to玉d Noguchi，“1ike the writers of Scottish ba11ads or the inventors of hish stories，but one fee1s that O叩en8md John have re1atives in tbe patent office who are conscious of being at the fore－f正。nt of time．” @He found the same attractive

1ユ3 Edward MaIx quality in a few1iter岬works：“The o1d French poets were simple as the modem aエe not，＆I find in Pr㎜cois Vi11on the same thoughts with more inte11ectua1power，

血at I find in the Gae1ic poet［Anthony］Ra『tery一” He continued，

I wou1d be simp1e myse1f but I do not㎞ow how．I…m a1ways tuming over

pages like those you have sent me，hoping that in my o1d age I may discover

how． I wish how some Japanese would te11us a11about the1ives．．．血eir talk，

their1oves，their re1igion，their出ends．一。of these painters． I wou1d like to

㎞ow these thi㎎s㎞nute1y and to㎞ow too what their houses1ooked1ike，and

if they sti11stand，to㎞ow a11those things that aエe㎞own about B1ake，and

about Tumer，and about Rossetti－It might make it more easy to understand

their simplicity－A fom of beauty scarce1y1asts a generation with us，but it

1asts with you for centuries．You no more wa皿t to change it than a pious man

w㎜ts to change the Lord’s Prayer，or the Cmcifix on the wa11－at1east not

unless we have infected you with our egotism．

He closed with his regret ove正his missed oppo伽nity to visit Jap㎝：“I wish I had found my way to your country a year ago＆were sti11there，for my own remains uncomfortable as I dreaded that it wou1d．I have not seen Ga1way for a1ong time now for I am wamed that it is no place for wife and child．”

It was tme that Noguchi’s book of NO trans1ations and the Yeats visit had both ended in f㎡1ure．Noguchi would not have been much troub1ed；“I am a worshipper of failure，”he had㎝ce declared．14〕When in July of1927，he㎜d

KOnosuke Hinatsu gathered the Japanese Yeatsians together at Nanushi（Hiroshige’s favorite pub1ic park in Tokyo）they had much to ceIebrate． A1though they had not brought Yeats to Japm，they had c帥ain1y brought Japan‡o Yeats． Noguchi， recent1y tumed fifty，had just completed the publication of his own co11ected scho1arly works in thirty－five vo1umes．The second generation of Jap㎝ese

Yeatsians，a玉1of them Noguchi prot‘g6s，had come of age．Hinatsu（日夏取之介

ユ890r1971），a poet whose Japanese tr8㎜s1ations of Yeats were wide1y respected，

1ユ4一 Y㎝o Noguchi in W．B．Y巳ats’s Japan（2〕一Hokku had been appointed to血e Waseda facu1ty inユ922．Makoto S㎜g口（山宮元1892－

1967），Tokyo University graduate and trans1ator of Yeats’s〃eαs oゲGoo6〃a亙〃， had visited Yeats in Dub1in the previous August， Hδjin Yano had visited Yeats the previous October and苧tmck up a waエm fhendship．The new mem1〕er of the group，

Waseda graduate（and1ater professor）ShotarO oshim（尾島庄太郎1899－1980）， whose newIy pub1ished丘rst book，∫e施〃疋e〃匂莇 （A Study of Yeats），provided the officia1occasion for the gathe㎡ng，would not visit Yeats unti11938，but he had

釦ready begun a live1y correspondence with the Irish poet．It was Oshima，of course，who 1ateI compi1ed the impressive chronicle of Yeats’s Japanese connections，W．B．γe刎sαη∂Joραη，on血e occasion of the1965Yeats centen班y．

Oshima clearIy had c1ose ties with Noguchi（who wrote the preface to his∫伽めげ

γe〃3），but even he never knew of Noguchi’s early efforts to advise Yeats about

Nδ．15〕Nor did he suspect，when Yeats handed him a copy of his Mew Poem∫in

July of1938，that the vo1ume contained a poem Yeats had p1agi㎞zed from

Noguchi。

T11e Sllrimking Nog㎜c阯

After his flur17of publications aエ。und the time of his American1ecture tour，

Noguchi had tumed his attention to writing in Japanese，and had virtuany ceased to pub1ish in Eng1ish，except for a series of books on Japanese航ists for the firm of

血e1ate E1kin Mathews．The鮒h and1ast of血ese，肋r阯〃。肋，c㎜e out in1927．

The fo11owing yeaエ，he was ready to take the p1unge agai皿．He sent the essay from

〃。用ηoわ砒to the D〃，exp1aining，“I was so busy for some yeaエs，wri廿ng in

Jap㎝ese and1ecturing to my university st皿dents，Iso my contributions to American papers㎜d magazines had been put off．But now I want to renew my acquaintance with them．” @If the〃〃didn’t c肛e for it，he added，he wouId1ike the essay retumed，“because there is no other magazine fit for this article in America．”1百〕

Two weeks1ater，he sent a1ong some recent poems and two more essays，

一ユエ5一 Edwaエd M肛x

“Koyetsu”and“Insect Musici㎜s一” @Fo伽nately，they found a sympathetic reader：

Mariamne Moore，eager to print a11t㎞ee of the essays in consecutive issues from

May through Ju1y．Unfortunate1y，the D1αエ。eased publication aier the Ju1y issue， due to the i11ness of its owner，ScoHe1d Thayer．

But Moore had taken an interest in Noguchi，and after血e〃αガs de㎞se，she did her best to find publications wining to publish other essays Noguchi continued to

send her． One of these was an amusing piece entit1ed“Hobby，”in which Noguchi

divu1ged his embanassing1ack of hobbies．and exp1ained the causes and effects of his decision to give“wa1king”as his hobby when queried by W乃。’∫W乃。 f出een yeaエs

eaエlier．Moore sent some of the Noguchi essays to William Rose Ben6t at the

∫α伽〃。γR州ewφ〃ero伽re，expIaining，“He wants me to get the Viking Press to

sponsor for Eng1and md America，a set of essays he is having puり1ished in Tokyo

and I thought it wou1d help if I offered one or two to magazines。” @But American

sentiments against Japan had been critica1since Japan had emb酊ked on the conquest

of Manchuria fonowing the so－ca11ed Manchurian Incident in September1931一“I

was bom pro－Chinese and bombs busting in air from Japan have not reversed my

a11egiance，”Moore exp1ained，“but I feel that血e shrinking Noguchi was a song－bird

nurtured by Cuckoos．”ユ7〕 Evident1y Ben6t did not shaエe her taste in strange bi正ds－

The fouowing month，she tried sending“Hobby”to Linco1n Kirstein at〃。〃η∂伽∂

肋肌時平・t・i・w・・“t・nibly・…y・”’呂〕1t…k…th・・tw・y・皿・b・f…‘‘H・bby”

fina11y fomd a sympathetic editor in London，John Midd1eton Murry，who printed

血e essay in hisλ6φ〃 magazine in Novemberユ935．A year1ateエ，it was

reprinted in the W〃。一助α用れρ〃。碗吻，the magazine associated with Tagore’s

school at Shantiniketan，which Noguchi had visited during his recent tour of the

Indian subcontinent．19〕

Yeats had tumed70in the summer of1935and his health was precaエious，s0

he had been ob1iged to content himse1f wi㎞spending the winter in M勾。rca

trans1ating Upanishads with S11』i Pumhit Swami．He had been bedridden from late

1ユ6一 Y㎝e Noguchi in W．B．Yeats’s Jap3n（2） Hokku

January to ear1y Apri1，and then there had been a messy situation with his psycho1ogica11y－unstab1e actress－poet－1over，MaIgot Ruddock，who，having run off from her husband，tumed up one May moming，1uggage in hand，with a“ №窒?≠ mass” 盾?@poems for Yeats to eva1uate，血en s1ipped out with the app町ent intention of drowning herse1f，After dancing in the rain，she somehow ended up with a broken kneecap in Barce1ona，and Yeats and George were ob1iged to rescue her from the

Spanish authorities，at the request of the British consu1，and ship her back to

Eng1md in曲e care of a nurse．In Ju1y，recovering from his adventure at Domthy

We11es1ey’s Sussex estate，he wrote his f㎜ous poem，“Lapis Laz皿1i，”inspired by the Chinese carving given to him the previous summer by H㎜＝y C1ifton．The poem，in which Yeats portrays the three c班ved Chi岬men gaiIy contemp1ating the tragic wor1d from their lofty s1ope，wou1d appear as the second poem of Mew Poem∫

（1938）．In December and Januaエy，back in Riversdale，neaエDub1in，he wrote the third poem entit1ed“Imitated from the Japanese，”and the fourth，a poem about the

Margot Ruddock incident，entit1eヰ“Sweet Dancer．”

“Imitated from the Japanese”was written in December1936during a period of se1f－described“emotion最．chsis”brought about by attacks on his quirky editing of

凧e0枇〃BooだけModem γerse and more generally，“the present state of

Europe”： “I have been in bed unab1e to do anything but s1eep，yesterday I got up for the first time，”he to1d We11es1ey．“I made舳s poem．out of a prose trans1ation of a Japa皿ese Hokku in pr㎡se of Spring．”20〕The source of the poem－whose tit1e c1e町1y begs for exp1㎜ation－has a1ways been a mystery to Yeats scho1趾s－Some decades ago an ente叩rising scholar managed to find a about sphng in the voluminousル肋。Jo8ツψ〃。土此〃pub1ished in1932by Noguchi’s KeiO co11eague

AsatarO Miyamori；a1曲。ugh sp㎡ng subjects m秋e up a substantial proportion of

Japanese haiku，the improbab1e attribution has been repeated by respectab1e Yeats scho1aエs ever since．21〕More usefu11y，schoIars have pointed out thaピ‘Imitated from the Jap～mese”is1inked to“Lapis Lazu1i，”which precedes it in M召w Poe吻∫，by Faエ

1ユ7一 Edward Marx

Eastem subject matter，㎜d to“Sweet Dancer，”which fonows it，by the motif of dancing．Biographica玉readings have1inked血e dancing motif of“Imitated from the

Japanese”to Yeats’s septuagena㎡an sexua1revita1ization，whi1e more thematic or t・・tf・1…di・g・h…p・・f・江・ガ‘・ld・g・‘・・t・・i・hi・g’di・・・…y・ft・・gi・j・y．”22〕

In Praise of Spri皿g

Yeats’sdescription，Aprosetrans1ationofaJapaneseHo㎞uinpraiseof

Spring，”is inaccurate in two respects：first，the source in Noguchi’s“Hobby”essay was not a prose trans1ation but a verse trans1ation，which Ye．ats rewo正ked only s1ight1y；second1y，it was not one but three sepaエate haiku，a point imp1ied，if not exact1y spe11ed out，by Noguchi．

How strange it is A most astonishing thing阯

That I shou1d have1ived fifty years！ Sevとnty years have I1ived；

Ha11e1ujah to flower’s spdng！

（Hurrah for the且。wers of Spring，

First day of spring at1ast！ P・・Sp㎡・gi・h・…g・i・．）

Fifty yea1＝s I’ve Iived，

Not a beggaエin rush－c1othes！ Seventy years have I lived

No ragged beggaエーman，

A1as，fifty years have passed， Seventy yea1rs have I1ived，

Having no night Seventy years man and boy，

When I danced injoy． And never have I danced for joy．

The1ine皿divisions8md sequence of Noguchi’s version（1eft）are fo11owed c1ose1y by Yeats，who regu1arizes the rhythm，imposing anαあαcあ。あM rhyme scheme， tilil（e㎡ng with a few phrases，md adding twenty ye肌s to the spea］（er’s age，to apProximate his own。

一118一 Yone Noguohi in W．B．Yeat昌’s Japan（2）一Hokku

The hokku，as Noguchi exp1ains in“Hobby，”were written by血e we11一㎞own poet Issa Kobayashi（小林一茶1763一ユ827）

I fee1sometimes terrib1y1onesome from ve町reason that I have no hobby．

In the book of Issa’s乃。肋〃poems which I opened not long ago，I found the

fO11OWing：

“A1as，thirty－six years have passed since the6th of Anei（1772－1780）when

．I1曲my country home for1ife’s vagabonding over ten thousand mi1es；th㎞y－

six years are fifteen thous㎜d nine hundred sixty days． How bitter1y have I

been subjected to app1ication！ There has not been even one day when I feIt

ease in my mind．But before I knew it I became a white－h射red o1d man．

How s血ange it is

That I shou1d have1ived fifty yea］＝s！

Ha11e1ujah to Hower’s spring！

Pirst day of spring at1ast！

Fifty years I’ve Iived，

Not a begg肌in msh－c1othes！

A1as，fifty years have passed，

Having no night

W1・・Id・…di巾y．”2畠〕

How strong1y I was impressed by the1ast乃。肋〃poem，since I myse1f，

like Issa，had spent1ong fifty years with no night in dancing！Issa must have

been a poor fe11ow1ike myse1f，who，if he was asked about his hobby，had no

other way to answer but with the word of wa1king． I have had no opportuni奴

to suffer Issa’s intense apP1ication；even though I had no chance to feel a

119一 Edw趾d M脈

mother’s great1ove for血e b1ood’s㎞ot was not so strong，一I had no

experience1ike Issa’s，to suffer under step－mother’s tyraエmy．Issa，it is said，

was tumed out from home when he was a boy；but from my own丘ee wi11，in

e1ated spirit，I1e廿home towaエd the westem country，where I spent more than

ten years． Now having a1ready passed丘盆y years，I1ook back upon the past

and often think what a hard hfe I experienced－Indeed my fifty ye町s were a

painful series of丘ght in Ioss or gain，having no favourite pursuit in－eisure to

p1ease myse吐 I was a miserab1e creature，1ike Issa，who“passed fifty yeaエs

having no皿ight when he danced in joy．”

It is easy enough to see why Yeats’s own feelings resonated with Noguchi’s，which in tum resonated with Issa’s．But the passage quoted by Noguchi was not a simp玉e quotation；it was actua11y assemb1ed from severa1sep肛ated passages．Two of the three quoted haiku can be found，as one might expect，among the poems Issa wrote in the e皿1y spring of1812，when he tumed fifty．24〕The first one reads：

五十年あるも不思儀ぞ花の春

Go卿eHr〃mo伽乃樹zo乃。〃。〃。肋〃

Even fifty years＝how extraordinary！ Spring for the flowers！

And the second：

春立や菰もかぶらず五十年

功r〃α舳ツ0疋0mOm0たαわ〃r側80卿eη

Spring is comhg！Stin mt cgvered in msh mats－ fifty years。

“C・・…di・m・hm・t・” x・・・・・…舳・・1ph・…f・・th・…砒i㎝。f・b・g9・・一 anyone fami1iar with the variety of rain－ge肛wom by travelers in the prints of Issa’s contemporary，Himshige，can infer the reason－Noguchi’s trans1ations aエe fair1y

一120一 Y㎝e Nogucbi in W．B．Yeats’s Jap㎝（2〕一Hokk口 str出ghtforward，though some may doubt whether the e㏄lesiastic“halle1uj出！”（or

Yeats’s substituted“hu皿出”）is the best phrase to capture the spirit of the Japanese f1ower in spring．These two poems appear in Issa’s haiku di町。f this period，

∫〃肋必伽〃淋’（Number Seven Diary）；un1ike some of his f㎜ous肋め〃ηdiaエies intended for publication，which mix haiku with subst圭mtial sections of prose，the

舳㎜あer∫e叱η〃。リ。onsists a1most entirely of h㎡ku，arranged in sing1e，vertica1

1ines，Iike pickets of a five－hundred page haiku fence－with b㎡ef notations squeezed into the sma11space above the poems．The quoted prose passage does not appear with the quoted haiku，but，rather，as paエt of a sho血preface that precedes the diary．

The two poems appe趾side－by－side（written on the23rd a皿d25th days of the first mon血。f the yeaエBunka9）．The third poem－in which Issa ostensibly comp1ains about having no night when he danced in joy－the one that“strongly impressed”

Noguchi，and that links Yeats’s version to his o血er poems abo口t dancing－is nowhere to be found in the M〃例わer∫eve〃〃αα．

Had Noguchi simply invented the poem himse1f－as he was quite capabIe of doing…or had he found it elsewhere among Issa’s tens of thousands of h出ku？

Katsuyuki Terao m㎜aged，after a weekend sequestered with the nine－volume

C6〃ecfe∂Worた∫，to1ocate the re1evant need1e in the haiku stack：

六十年踊る夜もなく過しげり

R0切．励e〃0∂0〃yOm0〃αた〃S〃80∫倣eれ

Si・tyy・・工・一・・t・・・… ight・fd…i㎎一h…p・…d！！5〕

Noguchi had a1tered the poet’s age so as to1ink the poem to㎞e other two，in a move that curious1y prefigured Yeats’s own－As may be su㎜ised，this poem was written ten years after the other two－on the seventh day of the seventh mon㎞of

Bunsei5 （ユ822）to be precise；it apPears in Issa’s dia工y of that pe工iod，the B〃〃∫ej

尼〃。乃δ （Bunsei－era haiku notebook）． Aside from the change of age，Noguchi’s

121 Edwa■d M肛女 tmns1ation is fair1y str㎡ghtforward，with the exception of the phrase“danced in joy．”Issa mere1y refers to dancing，and，9iven 曲e poem’s ea工1y autumn composition，some scholars have suggested that Issa had in mind theろ。〃。aoれ，the dance we1co㎞ng the amua1retum of the㎜cestraI spirits to the wor1d of the living

－a dance that has more seho肛s me㎜ings in addition to its joyfu1aspects．

0ne must m吐e a11ow㎜ces for the enthusiasms of o1d men，Issa，as it happens，had written the first two poems shortly before mミ㎜＝ying a twenty－seven－ year－old hometown girl named確ku and fathering four chi1dren with her．His mnning notes in∫〃。〃あ伽 〃肋 record the frequency of their lovemaking， sometimes four or five times in one night，data which have intrigued Japanese scho1ars壬md wou1d no doubt have interested Yeats－whose1ate－in－1ife surge of sexua1interesthas also Teceived much scho1皿1y co㎜ent．Spring dancing was certain1y a sexu鉦metaphor for Yeats；he had undergone a questiom1〕1e g1md operation to restore his virility in1933，and it seems tg have given him the willpower to pursue his own twenty－seven－year－o1d，Margot Ruddock，with such umnticipated consequences as have been a1ready described． As for Noguchi，it is not c1ear whether the erotic Indian poems he wrote around this time were inspired by a sexua1affair during his India trip or mere1y an encounter with we11－endowed

Ajanta cave painting． At this age，as the song says，the thought is as good as the thri1I．

A11three poets最so had amp1e opportunity，after writing their respective poems， totestthedoctrineoftragicjoy－Aye趾afterIssaw正。tehisdancinghaiku，his wife，確ku，died；血e last of their four children died seven months1ater．A second ma∬iage，at age62，to a samu正㎡’s daughter ended in a quick divorce．A yeaエafter his曲ird mar1iage，in1826，his house bumed down；he died a few mon㎞s1ater．

Yeats，who continued his phi1andering ways to the very end，died a year討ter the pub1ication of Mew Poem∫。 Noguchi survived to see the resu1ts of Yeats’s predictions＝“Old civi1isations put to the sword．ノThen they and theiエwisdom went

ユ22 Yone Noguchi in W．B．Yeats’s Japan（2〕一問。kku to rack1”一first China at the hands of Japan，then Japan at the hands of the A11ies，

He eventua11y f1ed Tokyo。㎝d，1ike Yeats’s Chinamen，found a place of refugeL but not before watching Tokyo bombed to mbb1e，and his own house，fu11of mementos of Yeats and other enemy writers，go up in f1ames．No doubt Yeats wou1d have been p1eased with the way he maintained his poetic sensibi1ity thエ。ugh it a11，stopping to admire the beauty of an incendiary she11曲at reminded him of tu1ips b1ooming when it crashed through his roof and landed in the h種1way． In spite of it a11，he wou1d have held to the be1ief that“All things fa11and are built again，／And those that bui1d血em again are gay一”Echoes of Yeats can be heard in the poems

Noguchi wrote after the war：

Thrown a11selves in a fumace，

The things quake and thri11in joy of rebirth．．一

List to a vibration of their ca11ing voice！

We reply to them，

And never fee1sad for too great joy of the wor1d．囲〕

Ayear1atpr，he，too，wasdead．

Notes

G正ateful ac㎞ow1edgm㎝t is made to the Beinecke Library，Ya正e University，for pe㎜ission to

纈uote frqm the王e航ers of M㎞ame Moore．

1）Edw肛d M㎜（，“Y㎝e Noguchi in W・B．Yeats’s Japan（1）一The NO，”舳！‘励ψ加Fαc伽。ゾ

〃w mdω肋ポ肋柵伽捌。∫［愛媛大学法文学部論集人文学科編］ユ8（2005）＝ユ09－34．

2）It is cle肛that Noguchi used Wadag鮒s superioI but archaic－sounding tr㎜s｝ation oガ倣α是蜆

∫舳加（“Monoceros，the Rishi”in Wadag鮒sα伽1榊伽m Jop伽舳工1柳伽陀［Tokyo：

Nampokusha，1919］1234－45）as the basis for his own祉mslation，“The Delusion of a Human

Cup，”γδり。た阯肋j515（Nov・19ユ6）：6－9；reprinted in Poe正L〃ε33（Sprin91922）1152－55．

It seems likeIy that some，if not日11，of Noguchi’s other tra11s1ations were a1so produced

conaborative1y。

123 Edwa■d1〉larx

3）Yeats to Quim，ユ！Ju王y1919，m Le甜舳ガw．B．γe伽，ed．An㎜wade（New York：

Macmi11an，ユ955）＝659．

4）Brenda Maddox，γ刎ポ∫G危。鮒（N巳w York：H岬er Conins，1999），153．

5）Oshima，γωな。冊∂Jαρo皿，ユ28；Tokuboku Hir且ta，“肋’c乃δs例如∫〃〃〃舳ηo力肋此阯”

［profi－e of Yeats who is coming to J3pa皿］，冊8o肋η8αた皿4＝1（Jan。ユ920）：2－3．

6）Noguchi wrote two letters on Itow’s school stationary on Februaエy7．1920．

7）See Oshim35，n．2．J3mes Cousins visit to Japan is discussed at1eng血in his book，mεルw

Jαρ伽一mr舳三〇刑’α〃R功eα三〇〃∫（Mad■as l Gmesh，1923），and in p日ssing in James H．

Cousins and M肛g肛et E．Cousins，脆rwoτog励〃（Madras，Ganesh，1950）、

8）Yeats to Du1ao，22Mar．1920，L刎舳，622．

9）SatO’呂a㏄ount is given in Oshima，γe伽口〃Jψ伽，1ユ9－33．

ユ0）0shima（p．5n．2md p．ユ8，n．ユ）seems tb suggest that Ken Yanagisawa（1889－1953）was the

driving£orce behind theん。片三∫〃励〃〃pI㎜．Ymagisawa，later日distinguished dipIomat，had

taken a job on theん肋ポ∫巳ditorial committee after his graduation from Tokyo University．

1王）［A村hur Waleyl，“Japanese Essays and Poems，”T工∫，6Apr・1922，p・227・Babette Deutsch，

“The Sou1of Wit，”D〃70（Feb．ユ921）：204－06；Jm Fujita，“A Japanese Cosmopolite，”

Poεfリ23（Juneユ922）1162－64；D．J．E．，“Poesy and Posturing，”Bo6足mα刊（London）60（Aug・

1921）：218．

！2）［Van Wyck Bmoks1，“A ReYiewer’s Notebook，’’Frε舳α冊3（22June192ユ）：358；跳eκ加8

肋Cr肋ds榊 （New York，E．P．Dutton＆Co．，｝932），20．

13）Yeats to Noguchi，27Juneユ92ユ，Oshima，γω的m6Jαρα冊，20．The Ietter itself was

destroyed in the great Tokyo eaエ曲qu吐e of1923，but a tr｛mscript was retained in connection with

an ex㎞bition of Noguchi’s1etters fmm f㎜ous foreigners at Tokyo University。

ユ4）Y㎝e Noguchi，凧ro阯助伽τorミ三（Lond㎝：El㎞n Mathews，1914）1185－86．

！5）“互t was［the Feno11osa］m㎜uscript that肛。used Ye3ts’s interest in Jap㎜ese Noh p1ays，”he

stated in W．B．γ‘”∫α冊6Jαρα〃，42．

ユ6）Noguchi to〃α三，28Nov．ユ828，Dial－Soofield Thayer Papers，Beinecke・

ユ7）Moore to Ben‘t，2ユ Aug．ユ933，in r肋 ∫ε＝εc胞∂L虐施r∫ψMr〃f伽m Moo陀，ed．Bonnie

Coste11o （New York：Kmpf，ユ997）＝3ユ3．

18）晴rstein to Moore，！1Sept．1933，Rosenbach Library．㎞stein had recently been scu1pted by

Noguchi’s son，．

19）“Hobby，”A此ψ肋 （Ser．2）ユ！：2 （Nov．ユ935）：！06－11；準t．in W〃α一B乃〃。れρ〃〃fe吻n．

s．2 （Nov．1936）＝35－40．

124 Yone Noguchi in W．B．Yeats’s Japan（2〕 Hok㎞

20）L‘施州。ηPo砺リ戸。m W．B．γω加工。 Doro物ツWe〃ω王印 （London＝Oxford University Press，

1964）＝127．

2ユ）A．Noman Jeff鵬s，んM舳C伽m‘〃卿m伽Po直舳4W．B．γe碗（Stanford，Calif．．

Stanford Unive正sity PIe呂s，1984）：366；W．B．Yeat呂，丁加Po舳j，ed．Rich趾d J．Fimemn，2．

ed．（New York l Scribner，1997）：506． The attribution h3s been repeated呂。 often that even

Japanese scho1ars seem to take it for granted．See，for examp1e，Hiroyuld Yamas釦d，〃舳fo

0れε肋r励舳．．是舳。庇榊庇肋是用。肋。是舳［Yeats and0㎡enta1ism：From a He㎜eneutical

Standpoint］（Tokyo：K‘ndai bungeisha，1996）：258－6ユ．

22）John Unterecker，A Reader・s Guide to W．B．Yeats（L㎝don：Thamos舳d Huds㎝，1955），

262－2．

23）“Hobl〕y，”35－36．

24）Issa Kobayashi，∫∬α z酬s肋［Collected w㎡tings of Issa］，ed．KeiichirO Kobayashi，9v．

（Nag㎜o1Shinano Mainichi Shinbunsha，1976－80）：3：143．

25）∫∬αZ舳s紡，v．4，383．At肪e time Noguchi wrote“Hobby，”Issa was u皿dergoing a reviva1

of s0fts，and m㎜y of his woIks were becoming avai1able for血e first time．The BmJ召f Mo蛇あ。o走

was one of these：it was published for the first time in May ofユ928，as voL8of a nine－vo1ume

J∫∫o〃あroαproduced by a11educationa1group in Issa’s hometown of Shinam．∫∬0JδMo，

Shimm ky6ikukai，9v．（Tokyo1Kokon shoin，ユ926－28）． The M阯m加r∫eリ舳 Dわα had

appe肛ed as vo1ume4ofぬe same se㎡es in1927，althougb an earlier edition（N且gano：Iss日

dOk6kai） had been available siilce1910．

26）Yone Noguchi，“Life in Full B1oom，”Jαρm乃m伽，3Feb．ユ946．

工25一