The Voice of the PR b0£7 03Vb I89T Valley YoneNocruchi Class "P^6 Q R T PRESENTED BY 1897 REBEKAH CRAWFORD The Voice of the Valley The Voice of the Valley By Yone Noguchi Author of " Seen and Unseen " Introduction by Chas. Warren Stoddard Illustration by William Keith William Doxey At the Sign of the Lark San Francisco * C ^1*{; 1 \9^ Copyright, 1897 William Doxey Gift Rebekah. Crawford Mar,14-1927 . THE DOXEY PRESS To Nelly E. W. Smith Pray, thou who art the first to touch the heart to these lines, be the last to read alone, and bless me when the world has forgotten me! Contents Introduction 9 The Voice of the Valley Song of Day in Yosemite Valley . 13 Song of Night in Yosemite Valley 2 1 In the Valley 27 The Night Reverie in the Forest 3 1 The Song of Songs which is Noguchi's I Hail Myself as I do Homer . 41 Hymn of Summer ..... 45 Adieu 49 Introduction T? VER since my first visit to the Yosem- "^ ite Valley, nearly thirty years ago, I have believed that no verbal description can give the reader an adequate idea of its marvelous and manifold features ; that the ordinary forms of verse cannot com- pass it; that at most the poet can only suggest; and that, after all, the mere suggestion is sufficient — the imagination supplying what is lacking in form, color, and detail. But the suggestion must be offered by one singularly gifted, and pos- sessed of a temperament as picturesque, as variable, as unique as the Valley itself. Introduction He must also be a word-builder, if he would conjure the echoes from that valley of the shadow, where heaven and earth meet, where there is no horizon save the cloud-rack and the storm. When I heard that Yone Noguchi was in the Yosemite with his exalted muse, it seemed to me that this unconventional child of nature, this boy whose heart and soul lie naked and bare, must strike a chord that all the voices of nature shall respond to — and for these reasons: — Noguchi is a word-builder of startling originality and power; inspired by the charming audacity of innocence, he is unfaltering in his flights; the sensuous imagination of the Oriental has lost noth- ing of its fire and splendor, though the new medium of expression is the most literal English that ever was uttered : his lines are charged with primitive eloquence ; Introduction his is the spontaneous song of a heart that is overflowing with melody — of a soul that would set all the world to mu- sic. There are passages in his poems as lofty and abrupt as the precipitous walls of the Valley he adores ; there are shad- ows, also, where the imagery is vague — as imagery should be where overshadowed; there are heights dazzling with frost and sunshine; and over all is the fathomless and alluring sky, into which he soars like that aspiring soul of song that rests not this side the Gate of Heaven. If he is sometimes obscure, it is be- cause he has flown into cloud-land, where obscurity is a virtue ; haunted by a mem- ory of Yosemite, an occasional extrava- gance is surely permissible. With the passionate enthusiasm of youth, this unspoiled poet has fluttered the eagles on their star-crowned peaks, ii Introduction and I glory in the almost frenzied daring with which he has chanted The Song of Songs which is NoguchVsl Chas. Warren Stoddard. St. Anthonys Rest, The Bungalow, No. 300 M Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. 12 Song of Day in Yosemite Valley Song of Day in Yosemite Valley O THUNDEROUS opening of the unseen gate of solemn Heaven's Eternal Court ! Behold, clouds, tenants of the sky, sweep down from the Heavens unto a se- cret palace under the Earth ! — Aye, mighty Yosemite! — a glorious troop of the unsuffering souls of gods Marches on with battle-sound against the unknown castle of Hell ! — Aye, a divine message of Heaven unto •Earth — the darksome house of mor- tals — to awake ! 15 Song of Day in Yosemite Valley Hark — the heart-broken cry of a great Soul !— Nay, the tempestuous song of Heaven's organ throbbing wild peace through the sky and land ! The Shout of Hell wedded to the Silence of Heaven completes the Valley con- cert, forms the true symphony — The Female-light kissing the breast of the the Male-shadow chants the sacred Union ! I, a muse from the Orient, where is re- vealed the light of dawn, Harken to the welcome strains of genii from the heart of the great Sierras — I repose under the forest-boughs that invoke the Deity's hymn from the Nothing-air. 16 Song of Day in Yosemite Valley Here, brother mortal, lies the path, like Beauty's arm, guiding thee into the Heaven afar! — Alone I stray by the mountain walls that support the enameled mirror-sky, Enfolding my free-born soul in the vice- purifying odors of the forest from an unknown corner of Paradise. Art thirsty ? — here rolls the snow-robed water for thy fulfillment ; Does dullness veil thee? — here a stone chamber invites thee into the world of dreams through an unseen door. O return, brother mortal, from Samsara unto the great Valley ! Yea, the mighty Temple of the World, everlasting with the heaven and earth, welcomes thee ! 17 Song of Day in Yosemite Valley Behold ! Yosemite, sermoning Truth and Liberty, battles in spirit with the Pacific Ocean afar! unfading wonder, eternal glory ! I pray a redemption from the majesty that chains me — (Lo, Hell offers a great edifice unto Heaven !) O, I bid my envy and praise rest against thee ; 1 am content in the sounding Silence, in the powerless Time that holds the Valley in the age of gold ; I proffer my stainful body and leprous soul with blackest shame unto thee; I am united with the Universe, and the Universe with me. 18 Song of Day in Yosemite Valley O hail, brother mortal ! the true joy is revealed unto thee — Be thou a wave ebbing and flowing with the air of Heaven ! Behold ! The genii of the forest chant Peace unto the Lord from an un- known shrine in the Valley temple. O mighty chapel of God ! Thou know- est not an iron chariot stained with hostile blood; — Aye, idle spears and foolish shields dare not ruin thee, proclaiming War in Eternity ! 19 Song of Night in Yosemite Valley Song of Night in Yosemite Valley HARK! The prophecy - inciting windquake of the unfathomable concave of darkest Hell ! O, the God-scorning demon's shout against the truth-locked gate of mighty Heaven ! Heaven and Hell joining their palace and dungeon, remould the sinful universe to an ethereal paradise — O, the sphere is shaken by the Master- Mechanic working from the surface of the world to its center ! 23 Song of Night in Yosemite Valley Alas, the sun has fled in saddest woe ! — O mortal, breathe thy silent prayer unto mighty Yosemite for mirth ! Behold, the light of day leaves the white mansion to the care of dolorous night ! — The genii of the Valley fly from the roar of a thousand lions to the sacred peace above — Lo, an unknown jeweler decks the black, velvety heaven with treasure-stars — Yea, the Mother-Goddess, mantling the earth with the night, forbids Yosem- ite disturb her baby-angel's dream in the heaven ! Hark ! the night disconcord of the eter- nal falling of waters sounding dis- content throughout the earth — Song of Night in Yosemite Valley O, a chariot is rushing down to an un- known hollow in wild triumph ! Behold, a dragon reveals divinity in the ghostly-odorous sky of night — Nay, the mighty sword of the Judgment Day blazes down the Heaven to the gate of Hell ! 25 In the Valley In the Valley THE Sierra-rock, a tavern for the clouds, refuses to let Fame and Gold sojourn. — Down the Heaven by the river-road, an angel's ethereal shadow strays. — The Genii in the Valley-cavern consult in silence the message of the Heavens. O Lord, show unto mortals thy journal — the balance of Glory and Decay ! 29 The Night Reverie in the Forest The Night Reverie in the Forest "O UY my tears that I sucked from the -D breast of Truth — tears, sister spirits of Heaven's smile ! " sobs the Wind. Thou pale Wind, tear-vender of the hid- eous night, no one welcomes thee with thy unsold tears ! Thou Gipsy-Wind, my fellow-wanderer who fears light, cease thy plaintive strain of the sweet home ever lost ! " O Poet, sole midnight comforter, share my tears in thy heart ever tenanted by Autumn!" 33 The Night Reverie in the Forest Kiss me, Wind, to whom the gates of Spring never swing open, let us sleep under the weeping candle-star ! O Repose, whose bosom harbors the heavenly dream-ships, welcome me, an exiled soul ! Thou Forest, where Peace and Liberty divide their wealth with even a home- less convict, Let me sleep in thy arm-boughs, safer far than a king's iron castle guarded by mortal power ! Lull thy guest to reverie, master-spirit of the forest, with thy solemn love-tales of ancient gods ! Here Ease and Grandeur lodge in the forest's heart, where Time ever reveals his changeless youth. 34 The Night Reverie in the Forest L to Five miles I traveled — the black-robed bird-monk had ended his last prayer, a good-night hymn ; Ten miles, — I lost the home window- light that bids Sorrow and Tears depart like masterless dogs ; Twenty miles, — the eloping mother-moon had abandoned her child, my lonely soul. Thou Darkness, bewailing thy desertion by Light, I deplore my like fate, echoing thy saddest strain ! — Friend Night, my tears overflow from the love-fountain unto the sorrow-made dells ! I, an idle singer, fleeing from the world's shame, make a pilgrimage to an un- known land — O Heaven — or Hell ? 35 The Night Reverie in the Forest Thou Silence, who never responds to mortars voice, where is the secret door of Paradise ? — Speak once unto me ! O Star, thou radiant spirit of the blessed Beatrice who once guided a mortal unto Heaven, brighten now my darksome path ! I, a lone pilgrim, knock at the gate of Heaven — nay, the silent castle of Repose — O Repose! Rhyme on, Lady -Rivulet from thy mountain Memnon, thy tunable song awakening mortals* vanity-dreams ! Ah, Nakedness! Nakedness — to whom Shame and Pride are buried in the peaceful tomb of Faith ! 36 The Night Reverie in the Forest Ah, Loneliness! Loneliness — to whom a boatman of God is the sole savior on the vast Sea of Eternity ! I repose under the forest's arm-boughs — if I awaken not forever, pray, brother mortal, Make my grave under the greenest grass and carve this line : " Here sleeps A NAMELESS POET." 37 The Song of Songs which is Noguchi's I Hail Myself as I do Homer THE heart of God, the unpretending heaven, concealing the midnight stars in glassing the day of earth, Showers his brooding love upon the green- crowned goddess, May Earth, in heart-lulling mirth. O Poet, begin thy flight by singing of the hidden soul in vaporous harmony ; Startle the lazy noon drowsing in the full- flowing tide of the sunbeams nailing thy chants in Eternity ! The melody breathing peace in the name of Spring, calms tear to smile, envy to rest. 41 I Hail Myself as I do Homer Ah thou, world of this day, sigh not of the poets who have deserted thee — aye, I hail myself as I do Homer ! Behold, a baby flower hymns the cre- ation of the universe in the breeze, charming my soul as the lover- moon ! O Yone, — a ripple of the vanity-water, a raindrop from the vanity-cloud, — lay thy body under the sun-enameled shade of the trees As a heathen idol in an untrodden path awakening in spirit sent by the unseen genius of the sphere ! The earth, a single-roomed hermitage for mortals, shows not unto me a door to Death on the joy-carpeted floor — 42 I Hail Myself as I do Homer Aye, I call the once dead light of day from the dark-breasted slumber of night ! — I repose in the harmonious difference of the divine Sister and Brother, — Voice and Silence in Time. O Yone, return to Nature in the wood- land, — thy home, where Wisdom and Laughter entwine their arms ! Ah Cities, scorning the order of the world, ye plunder rest from night, paint day with snowy vice, — Alas, the smoke-dragon obscures the light of God ; the sky-measuring steeple speaks of discontent unto the Heaven ! O Yone, wander not city -ward — there thou art sentenced to veil thy tears with smiles ! 43 I Hail Myself as I do Homer Behold, the cloud hides the sins of the cities — regiments of redwood-giants guard the holy gates of the woodland against the shames ! Chant of Nature, O Yone, — sing thy destiny — hymn of darkness for the ivory-browed dawn — Behold, the deathless Deity blesses thee in silence from the thousand temples of the stars above ! 44 Hymn of Summer THIS is the month of gracious shade of trees — dusky hair on the marble ground-chest invoking mortals' worship. Here the composed wonder of the earth- canvas is divided by the proud black shade and virtuous white light. Sing, Summer Muse, the abundant love of the shade and light that overflows from Time's grand breast ! Harken, Genii, to the light and shade — gay prattle that is the despair of the poet's soul ! — 45 Hymn of Summer The zealous breezes from the four corners of the universe are pilgrims unto the forest-shrine where I pray. Confess, mortals, the deep-grounded sins of thy memory-record unto the God of the Woodland ! Ah, wonderful is the sacred remedy ensainting mortals' self-love at the forest-shrine ! Listen ! The sorrowless birds rejoice at the revealing of the Perfect Day ; they bend not their wishes unto titles and gold. Enter into Paradise, mortals, — the guar- dian-birds of the hidden gate call thee ! Come, Goddess, whose maiden eye-doors are enameled with the dethroned stars of heaven — 46 Hymn of Summer Come, Beauty, whose lips, portals to the love-mansion of her heart, are illu- mined with blood from flower cheeks, Sing unto thy slave the song of the angel-land where thou and I hide from vile mortals ! Sing, Summer Muse, the everlasting greenness of trees that breathes the unwithering health of celestial youth ! I hail the beauteous abundance of the leaves that perfect their secret toilet with the sun's power ! Rise, Poet, sing of the fairy world that is not Time's mere fancy, where the olive of balmy age ever lives ! Thou, fearless mortals against Fate's tyranny, art the worthy partners of Heaven and Earth ! 47 Hymn of Summer Oh, this is the happy month of the ethe- real water that destroys Death and Sorrow for mortals under the shade ! I repose in the shade-breezes from angels' gardens — I sing the summer song that the rivulet echoes down from afar! 48 Adieu ADIEU, Sons and Daughters of the -^ ^ first pair of mortals ! Adieu, City — you know not of celestial joy rippling in tune with nature ! Adieu, Fame — a sunbeam following the darkness of night ! Adieu, Gold — glittering dust of the earth, valueless in the land of Heaven ! Adieu, Mansions — you wall the sky, hide the moon and the stars ! I love the unbroken peace of the country uniting the purple heaven with the green-carpeted earth below, — 49 Adieu I love the saintly chant of the winds touching their odorous fingers to the harp of the angel, Spring, — I love the undiscording sound of thou- sands of birds, whose concord of song echoes on the rivulet afar, — I muse on the solemn mountain which waits in sound content for the time when the Lord calls forth, — I roam with the wings of high-raised fantasy in the pure universe, — Oh, I chant of the garden of Adam and Eve! Behold ! The night's shadow girding round our half-sphere, the world goes into reverie, — Yea, my spirit in a dream rises afar to steal the matchless pearls of eternal stars ! 50 Adieu Hark ! the far-off fowl sings of the divine morn of light ! I hail the glorious sun's ascent ! I chant again of the complete order of the universe with the earth, with the heaven above ! 5T I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TheVoi 014 707 390 2 Valley YoneNoguchi