Books and Habits, from the Lectures of Lafcadio Hearn. Lafcadio Hearn

cheek where grows

      More than a morning rose

      Which to no box his being owes.

      Eyes that displace

      The neighbor diamond and outface

      That sunshine by their own sweet grace.

      Tresses that wear

      Jewels, but to declare

      How much themselves more precious are.

      Smiles, that can warm

      The blood, yet teach a charm

      That chastity shall take no harm.

      Life, that dares send

      A challenge to his end,

      And when it comes, say “Welcome, friend!”

      There is much more, but the best of the thoughts are here. They are not exactly new thoughts, nor strange thoughts, but they are finely expressed in a strong and simple way.

      There is another composition on the same subject—the imaginary spouse, the destined one. But this is written by a woman, Christina Rossetti.

      Somewhere or Other

      Somewhere or other there must surely be

      The face not seen, the voice not heard,

      The heart that not yet—never yet—ah me!

      Made answer to my word.

      Somewhere or other, may be near or far;

      Past land and sea, clean out of sight;

      Beyond the wondering moon, beyond the star

      That tracks her night by night.

      Somewhere or other, may be far or near;

      With just a wall, a hedge between;

      With just the last leaves of the dying year,

      Fallen on a turf grown green.

      And that turf means of course the turf of a grave in the churchyard. This poem expresses fear that the destined one never can be met, because death may come before the meeting time. All through the poem there is the suggestion of an old belief that for every man and for every woman there must be a mate, yet that it is a chance whether the mate will ever be found.

      You observe that all of these are ghostly poems, whether prospective or retrospective. Here is another prospective poem:

      Amaturus

      Somewhere beneath the sun,

      These quivering heart-strings prove it,

      Somewhere there must be one

      Made for this soul, to move it;

      Someone that hides her sweetness

      From neighbors whom she slights,

      Nor can attain completeness,

      Nor give her heart its rights;

      Someone whom I could court

      With no great change of manner,

      Still holding reason’s fort

      Though waving fancy’s banner;

      A lady, not so queenly

      As to disdain my hand,

      Yet born to smile serenely

      Like those that rule the land;

      Noble, but not too proud;

      With soft hair simply folded,

      And bright face crescent-browed

      And throat by Muses moulded;

      Keen lips, that shape soft sayings

      Like crystals of the snow,

      With pretty half-betrayings

      Of things one may not know;

      Fair hand, whose touches thrill,

      Like golden rod of wonder,

      Which Hermes wields at will

      Spirit and flesh to sunder.

      

      Forth, Love, and find this maid,

      Wherever she be hidden;

      Speak, Love, be not afraid,

      But plead as thou art bidden;

      And say, that he who taught thee

      His yearning want and pain,

      Too dearly dearly bought thee

      To part with thee in vain.

      These lines are by the author of that exquisite little book “Ionica”—a book about which I hope to talk to you in another lecture. His real name was William Cory, and he was long the head-master of an English public school, during which time he composed and published anonymously the charming verses which have made him famous—modelling his best work in close imitation of the Greek poets. A few expressions in these lines need explanation. For instance, the allusion to Hermes and his rod. I think you know that Hermes is the Greek name of the same god whom the Romans called Mercury—commonly represented as a beautiful young man, naked and running quickly, having wings attached to the sandals upon his feet. Runners used to pray to him for skill in winning foot races. But this god had many forms and many attributes, and one of his supposed duties was to bring the souls of the dead into the presence of the king of Hades. So you will see some pictures of him standing before the throne of the king of the Dead, and behind him a long procession of shuddering ghosts. He is nearly always pictured as holding in his hands a strange sceptre called the caduceus, a short staff about which two little serpents are coiled, and at the top of which is a tiny pair of wings. This is the golden rod referred to by the poet; when Hermes touched anybody with it, the soul of the person touched was obliged immediately to leave the body and follow after him. So it is a very beautiful stroke of art in this poem to represent the touch of the hand of great love as having the magical power of the golden rod of Hermes. It is as if the poet were to say: “Should she but touch me, I know that my spirit would leap out of my body and follow after her.” Then there is the expression “crescent-browed.” It means only having beautifully curved eyebrows—arched eyebrows being considered particularly beautiful in Western countries.

      Now we will consider another poem of the ideal. What we have been reading referred to ghostly ideals, to memories, or to hopes. Let us now see how the poets have talked about realities. Here is a pretty thing by Thomas Ashe. It is entitled “Pansie”; and this flower name is really a corruption of a French word “Penser,” meaning a thought. The flower is very beautiful, and its name is sometimes given to girls, as in the present case.

Meet We No Angels, Pansie?