PS 
 
 25M 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Qf;ait. GojJijriQtjt l)a, 
 
 Shelf j7^3.97¥ 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE 
 
 ARTHUR PETERSON, U. S. N. 
 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 NEW YORK LONDON 
 
 37 WEST TWKNTY-THIRD STREET 34 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND 
 
 S^t ^nithftbochtr ^«ss 
 1894 
 
 ■-f^ 
 
 ■^ 
 

 COPYRIGHT, 1894 
 BY 
 
 ARTHUR PETERSON 
 
 Printed mul Uoiind by 
 
 Zbc llJnichcrbocitcr Iprese, *lcw Uorl! 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 Beloved wife, to thee I dedicate 
 This poem of my earlier wandering years, 
 When yet I knew thee not ; to thee, who since, 
 Companion sweet, hast sailed with me those seas, 
 Hast trodden those shores, where Penrhyn roamed 
 
 alone : 
 Take thou these verses, and if in them lives 
 Aught of the beauty which they strive to paint, 
 Of nature and of art in Orient climes. 
 Keep then, in memory of our happy hours 
 In that far East — the lotus-land of earth. 
 
 lU 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PRELUDE. 
 
 CANTO FIRST. 
 
 I. — Occident to Orient 
 II. — First Glimpses of Japan 
 
 III. — The Temples of Tokio 
 
 IV. — On the Tokaido . 
 V. — Mount Fuji . 
 
 VI. — Kioto .... 
 VII. — At the Temple of Kiyomidzu 
 
 PAGE 
 
 3 
 7 
 
 15 
 19 
 23 
 27 
 34 
 
 INTERLUDE. 
 
 CANTO SECOND. 
 
 I. — The Inland Sea and Nagasaki ... 37 
 
 II. — Canton and Shanghai 42 
 
 III. — Korea 49 
 
 IV. — In the Tropics 53 
 
 V. — Arabia 59 
 
 VI. — Egypt 61 
 
 VII. — Homeward Bound 68 
 
 VIII. — By the WissAHicKON 70 
 
 FINALE. 
 
PRELUDE. 
 
 O Muse that, in my days of youth, 
 /, Penrhyn, sought in field and wood, 
 Once 7nore, with thee as metitor good, 
 
 In verse J 'd mirror nature's truth. 
 
 On distant seas, in alien lands. 
 
 Long wont to roam, I knew thee not j 
 Almost thine accents I forgot. 
 
 The ministrations of thy hands. 
 
 But now once tnore, the clouds among, 
 Goddess, thy flight I hear thee winging j 
 Knight-errant I, whom thy sweet singing 
 
 Lures to the fairy-land of song. 
 
 Help thou my thought, guide thou my hand. 
 That I no idle thing may write ; 
 Bless thou the song I now indite — 
 
 My wanderings over sea a?id land. 
 
CANTO FIRST. 
 
 OCCIDENT TO ORIENT. 
 
 City of kith and kin, farewell ! 
 It will be months, it may be years, 
 Ere once again, through wanderer's tears, 
 
 I hail thy beauty — who can tell ? 
 
 Away ! the westward-rolling sun 
 Beckons us, we are his perforce ; 
 Him must we follow in his course ; 
 
 Across a continent we run. 
 
 The Alleghanies, white with snow. 
 The Mississippi's mighty flood. 
 The prairies, with their tales of blood, 
 
 We reach, we pass them, as we go. 
 
 Away — away ! The rumbling car 
 
 Flies onward toward the Golden Gate ; 
 Before me lands untravelled wait. 
 
 Behind me friends and kinsmen are. 
 3 
 
PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Behind me kinsmen are and friends, 
 The mighty ocean lies before, 
 To-morrow from this rock-bound shore 
 
 Its waves shall bear me to earth's ends. 
 
 O heart, almost, in this last hour. 
 
 Thou seek'st to evade my cherished plan 
 To view the varied lands where man 
 
 Displays his civilizing power. 
 
 O feet, that foreign soil ne'er pressed, 
 Almost ye dread my dear design 
 To cross that far meridian's line 
 
 Which separates the East from West. 
 
 Hard is 't to part ; and, mother dear. 
 Hardest of all to part from thee ; 
 For since I sat upon thy knee 
 
 My life to thine has followed near. 
 
OCCIDENT TO ORIENT. 
 
 The bell strikes noon ; I hear the sound 
 Of farewell voices in the air ; 
 And out the bay we go to where 
 
 The vast Pacific rims us round. 
 
 Tumultuous sea ! Perhaps, far south, 
 
 In other latitudes, where came 
 
 The adventurous Spaniard first, thy name 
 Is no misnomer ; but the mouth 
 
 That here salutes thee Peaceful, errs : 
 E'en as the Atlantic's boisterous rage, 
 Which wreck and ruin doth presage, 
 
 Is thine, and oft thy passion stirs. 
 
 Blow, blow, ye gales ! Anon we flee, 
 Sail set, before your wintry smiles ; 
 Anon we breast your buffets, whiles 
 
 A boiling caldron is the sea. 
 
PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 The tempest all the welkin fills, 
 And fury stirs the mighty main, 
 Upbroken is the ocean-plain 
 
 Into innumerable hills. 
 
 The decks are wet ; upon the bridge 
 I see the bearded captain stand ; 
 A son of Britain's sea-girt land. 
 
 He loves to leap from ridge to ridge. 
 
 The decks are wet ; day after day 
 
 Through frenzied winds and waves we steer ; 
 
 But singing at their work 1 hear 
 The hardy sailors of Cathay. 
 
 And though at night above my berth 
 Fall — many a ton in weight — the seas, 
 I lay me down with mind at ease, 
 
 And sleep as on the solid earth. 
 
II. 
 
 FIRST GLIMPSES OF JAPAN. 
 
 Westward her course our vessel steams 
 
 Until we reach, at last, the East ; 
 
 I wake at dawn, my soul to feast 
 On land before seen but in dreams. 
 
 Hail to thee, beautiful Japan ! 
 Before my ocean-wearied eyes 
 Kadzusa's ' wooded hills now rise. 
 
 And snow-capped dome of Fuji-san.' 
 
 O sacred peak, when, far at sea. 
 
 Thy shape the mariner descries. 
 
 Like Bethlehem's host to the shepherds' eyes 
 Thou shinest, speaking peace to be ! 
 
 Calm water now ; up Yedo Bay 
 We stand for Yokohama town : 
 'T was here the Oneida s^ men went down, 
 
 'T was there the fleet of Perry lay, 
 
 7 
 
8 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Uraga/ seven-and-twenty years 
 
 Have passed since on thy harbor's breast 
 Anchored the squadrons of the West, 
 
 And woke the shogun's prescient fears. 
 
 No longer, like a knight of old, 
 
 Two-sworded, goes the samurai ' forth ; 
 
 From west to east, from south to north, 
 No longer rules the daimio " bold. 
 
 Gone are the days of old Japan, 
 When lyeyasu ' held the land, 
 And lyemitsu's ' iron hand 
 
 Drove out the strangers with a ban. 
 
 Changed are the times ! For good or ill. 
 Who knows ? God grant 't is for the best ! 
 But cradled on this blue bay's breast, 
 
 Nippon, recluse I dream thee still. 
 
FIRST GLIMPSES OF JAPAN. 
 
 For, as from off the magic screen, 
 An image which our hearts has won, 
 Cast by the stereopticon, 
 
 Fades, and no more by us is seen : 
 
 So, swiftly, from the eyes of man, 
 Have passed away the systems old. 
 The customs strange, the manners bold, 
 
 The life unique, of hoar Japan. 
 
 And though we praise, as wise and great, 
 
 Those who from Europe's shores have brought 
 New arts, new arms, new laws, and wrought 
 
 From feudal clans, a modern state ; 
 
 Yet fancy paints, with loving hand, 
 The splendors of that golden age 
 When, with fair Yedo for their stage, 
 
 The Tokugawas ruled the land. 
 
10 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 On yonder hill, whose sunny crest 
 O'erlooks the waves of Yedo Bay, 
 O'erlooks, and gazes far away, 
 
 The ashes of Will Adams ' rest. 
 
 A Briton bold who loved to roam, 
 
 He sailed these seas three centuries back, 
 And on this shore, from storm and wrack 
 
 Once resting, found a wife and home. 
 
 Ruler of Hemi's village fair, 
 
 His people's pride, his sovereign's friend, 
 He loved thee, Nippon, till life's end. 
 
 Nor breathed again far England's air. 
 
 An exile's grave, yet who can say 
 
 That corse a lovelier couch e'er pressed, 
 Enshrined upon yon mountain's crest, 
 
 Above the waves of Yedo Bay. 
 
FIRST GLIMPSES OF JAPAN. 1 1 
 
 'T is night — through Yedo's crowded streets, 
 
 In man-drawn kuruma,'" I fly ; 
 
 O ne'er from memory's page will die 
 The scene which now my vision greets ! 
 
 The shops with paper-lanterns lit, 
 
 The showman's booth, the shrine of saint, 
 The black-haired youths in costumes quaint. 
 
 The maids demure who past me flit. 
 
 Is this a dream ? Or do I tread 
 Some distant planet, new and fair ? 
 Unreal seems this midnight air, 
 
 This round moon shining overhead. 
 
 'T is Nippon ! 'T is that once hidden land 
 Twin-ruled by warrior and by priest ! 
 'T is the charmed door-step of the East, 
 
 On which my pilgrim feet now stand ! 
 
12 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Ye sirens of the sea, whose kiss 
 
 Aye lures me o'er the billows green, 
 Say, in your wanderings have you seen 
 
 A land more beautiful than this ? 
 
 Here flows the bright Sumida," here 
 The plum-tree blooms in early spring, 
 And, later, cherry-blossoms fling 
 
 Their petals o'er the lakelet near. 
 
 Here nestles many a hamlet fair 
 
 The mountains and the sea between, 
 And from the level rice-lands green 
 
 Rises the white stork into air. 
 
 Here, in the cryptomeria grove, 
 
 The wooden Shinto " temple stands, 
 Plain as if built by Quaker hands 
 
 For orisons to God above. 
 
FIRST GLIMPSES OF JAPAN. 1 3 
 
 These are the Islands of the Blest, 
 Fertile and fair the landscape lies, 
 The winds are hushed along the skies, 
 
 The white-winged junks their pinions rest. 
 
 Before me spreads the dimpled bay, 
 Behind me Yedo's peopled plain, 
 Below me, in the shady lane. 
 
 Their games the happy children play. 
 
 I hear the music of the harp. 
 The songs of damosels I hear. 
 Who sit beside the lakelet clear. 
 
 Where dwell the tortoise and the carp. 
 
 And far to westward, like the throne 
 Of one who rules these Blessed Isles, 
 I see, above the sunset's smiles, 
 
 Fuji's incomparable cone. 
 
14 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 When shows above the ocean green 
 Each morn the sun's refulgent face, 
 Straight I betake me to that place 
 
 Where sacred Fuji best is seen. 
 
 Sometimes unbroken she uprears 
 The outlines of her peerless cone ; 
 Sometimes her graceful peak alone, 
 
 Floating above the clouds, appears. 
 
 Sometimes the whirlwinds round her blow, 
 Hurled by the fiery summer's hands ; 
 Sometimes in winter's garb she stands — 
 
 A stately pyramid of snow. 
 
 " Fuji-mi taira " '^ have I named. 
 After the fashion of the land, 
 This terrace, where each morn I stand 
 
 And view that mount for beauty famed. 
 
III. 
 
 THE TEMPLES OF TOKIO. 
 
 Here rest, in mausoleums grand, 
 Seven of the Tokugawa blood ; 
 Here once Zojoji's '* temple stood, 
 
 Founded by lyeyasu's hand. 
 
 Here, sheltered from great Yedo's din, 
 Serener beats the pulse of life ; 
 Beyond these august groves is strife ; 
 
 Peace and Religion reign within. 
 
 I stroll and gaze : through lacquered gate. 
 Past gorgeous shrine I make my way ; 
 Thrice beautiful, this April day. 
 
 Are these tomb-temples of the great. 
 
 On tent-shaped roofs the sunlight falls ; 
 
 The sweet air fills each spacious court ; 
 
 Proud Shiba, Heaven and Earth consort 
 To gild thy mortuary walls ! 
 15 
 
1 6 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 What spectacle is this ? What fair 
 
 To which the men and maidens throng ? 
 Where wrestler's shout, and geisha's " song 
 
 Re-echo through the jocund air : 
 
 Where musumes/' in coquetry wise, 
 Set sak^ " forth, or fragrant tea. 
 And praise our feats of archery, 
 
 As from each bow the arrow flies : 
 
 Where wondrous wax-works meet the eye, 
 And booths attract on every side ; 
 And, lo, a temple's portal wide 
 
 Invites to prayer the passers-by : 
 
 What spectacle is this ? Divine, 
 
 O traveller, if thou canst, the scene ? 
 Pilgrims are these upon the green : 
 
 This is Asakusa's ** famous shrine ! 
 
THE TEMPLES OF TOKIO. 1 7 
 
 Uyeno/* when, through thy royal park, 
 On April days the people stray, 
 To view the cherry-blossoms gay 
 
 Which spring's arrival ever mark, 
 
 What picnic of my native land 
 Can with thy festival compare ? 
 So glad the admiring groups, so fair 
 
 The cherry-flowers, the pines so grand. 
 
 For ever, in these Orient isles. 
 
 Pleasure, immortal goddess, reigns ; 
 Nor prince nor peasant she disdains. 
 
 Alike on young and old she smiles. 
 
 O thou who, harassed on all hands, 
 Wouldst seek the earthly paradise. 
 To Nippon hie ; with thine own eyes 
 
 Behold the happiest of earth's lands ! 
 
1 8 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 But ere I leave thy classic plain, 
 Fair Yedo, let my simple verse 
 Gompachi's ^" story sad rehearse- 
 
 Komurasaki's love and pain. 
 
 A samurai brave was he at first, 
 And she a maiden fair and good ; 
 To buy her stricken parents food 
 
 She sold herself. O fate the worst ! 
 
 He played the robber's cruel part 
 For gold wherewith his love to save ; 
 He fell ; and o'er Gompachi's grave 
 
 She plunged the dagger to her heart. 
 
 Like Abelard and Heloise, 
 Lovers unfortunate were they. 
 Now in Meguro rests their clay, 
 
 Beneath the waving bamboo-trees. 
 
IV. 
 
 ON THE TOKAIDO.'' 
 
 Sing, Muse, the walk ! With stick in hand, 
 And sun-hat swathed in summer white, 
 And figure clad in garments light. 
 
 On foot I journey through the land. 
 
 What pleasure can compare with this ? 
 To tread the long brown road ; to pierce 
 Deep woods ; to cross the torrent fierce ; 
 
 To feel, at times, the sea-wind"s kiss ; 
 
 To follow, over rice-fields green. 
 
 The path which leads one — who knows where ? 
 
 To climb the mountain's winding stair ; 
 To thread the valleys set between. 
 
 Away ! From mountain, wood, and shore. 
 
 Nature extends her loving hands. 
 
 Behind me Nihom-Bashi "'"' stands — 
 The long Tokaido lies before. 
 19 
 
20 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 This is the king's high-road ; from east 
 To west, by the blue sea, it winds ; 
 And Tokio to Kioto binds, 
 
 As two are wedded by the priest. 
 
 Along this pathway, brave and vain. 
 Once strode the samurai, feared by all ; 
 And where my alien feet now fall 
 
 Once swept the haughty daimio's train. 
 
 Here jogged the pilgrim toward his shrine, 
 'Neath summer's sun, through winter's blast ; 
 Here, in his norimono," passed 
 
 The kug^," flushed with fish and wine. 
 
 Here, from his battles in the west. 
 Came lyeyasu, marching home. 
 Yedo this eastern Caesar's Rome, 
 
 Where, from their wars, his clansmen rest. 
 
ON THE TOKAIDO. 21 
 
 In yonder grove, whose gilded fane, 
 
 Half-hidden, now meets the traveller's eye, 
 The immortal forty-seven lie. 
 
 Shall earth behold their like again ? 
 
 Approach ; but let no idle word. 
 No flippant phrase, profane the spot 
 Where died, with rites our race knows not. 
 
 That band whose tale the world has heard. 
 
 Still, by the path, springs, clear and deep. 
 The well in which the head was washed ; 
 But where the ronins' swords once flashed, 
 
 Now seven-and-forty grave-stones weep. 
 
 Sengakuji," from far and near. 
 
 The pilgrim seeks thine honored shrine ; 
 
 To ponder o'er each marble's line, 
 Or pay the tribute of a tear. 
 
22 PENRBYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 In Kamakura's " groves of oak, 
 Imaged in bronze, the Buddha sits, 
 No pain o'er that calm forehead flits. 
 
 No pleasure from those lips e'er broke. 
 
 But, wrapped in contemplation deep. 
 He views this world of will and fate, 
 Himself possessor of that state, 
 
 Not life nor death, not wake nor sleep. 
 
 O deity of perfect rest. 
 
 To thee, from many an Asian home. 
 Through centuries have the weary come, 
 
 The poor, the weak, the sick, the oppressed. 
 
 Sitting serene, whate'er betide, 
 
 Thou knowest not passion's strong control ; 
 
 So in Nirvana dwells the soul, 
 From pain and pleasure purified. 
 
V. 
 MOUNT FUJI. 
 
 Canst sing, O Muse, that snowy height 
 Which, standing in the western skies, 
 Like the cloud-pillar to Israel's eyes, 
 
 Appears, each day, before my sight ? 
 
 As o'er the Tokaido, stick in hand, 
 I journey toward Kioto's fanes, 
 It rises from Suruga's plains, 
 
 Leading me to the promised land. 
 
 Of thirteen provinces the light. 
 
 It shines, like Buddha, free from sin ; 
 And, that Nirvana he may win, 
 
 The pilgrim climbs its summit bright. 
 
 O matchless mount, the centuries die 
 
 And, moldering, form the forgotten past ; 
 But still thy wooded base stands fast, 
 
 Still thy white dome salutes the sky ! 
 23 
 
24 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 At night I see thy snowy stair 
 
 Ascending through the circling storm ; 
 At morn behold thy graceful form 
 
 Spring, like a flower, into the air. 
 
 Fuji, what hour beheld thy birth ? 
 
 What century saw thy bringing forth ? 
 
 For legends tell, from south to north, 
 The travail of thy mother earth. 
 
 In Omi, in a single night, 
 
 Land sank, and Biwa's lake appeared ; 
 
 While on Suruga's plain was reared. 
 From earth to heaven, thy sacred height." 
 
 'Mid such convulsions thou wast born 
 Who now, above me, sitt'st serene ; 
 At morn I greet thy snowy sheen, 
 
 At night thou cheer'st me, travel worn. 
 
MOUNT FUJI. 25 
 
 In heaven thou dwell'st, immortal queen. 
 Below thee are the homes of men, 
 And mortals strive, with brush and pen, 
 
 To Hmn the vision they have seen. 
 
 Worked in my lady's silken zone, 
 
 Of golden thread, thy semblance stands ; 
 And on his clay, with loving hands. 
 
 The potter paints thy peerless cone. 
 
 On palace wall, and temple screen. 
 
 On vase of bronze, and lacquered shrine, 
 Whate'er the work thy graceful line. 
 
 Dear to all craftsmen's hearts, is seen. 
 
 And the rapt poet, in despair 
 
 Of verse wherein thy charms to drape, 
 Beholds, in dreams, thy snowy shape 
 
 Hang, like a lily, in mid-air. 
 
26 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE 
 
 Oft from my vision thou art hid 
 Until I climb some summit free 
 Then, as Balboa hailed the sea, 
 
 I hail thy lonely pyramid. 
 
 Can Chimborazo's peak of snow 
 With thee in majesty compare ? 
 Can Alps or Himalayas bear 
 
 The crown of beauty from thy brow ? 
 
 Listen, thou mountain deity ! 
 
 Goddess, whose throne is in the air ! 
 
 As Paris once judged Venus fair, 
 Bestow I Venus' prize on thee. 
 
 Light of the East ! Bride of the Sun ! 
 
 Whose limbs the mists of morn now drape ; 
 
 O he who ne'er beheld thy shape, 
 He knows not beauty, peerless one I 
 
VI. 
 KIOTO. 
 
 Before me, couched upon her plain, 
 
 Girdled by hills, Kioto lies. 
 
 O sacred spot ! Each pilgrim's eyes 
 Are raised to Heaven, then fall again. 
 
 Like Zion to the Hebrew seers, 
 Mecca to the Arab sick and faint. 
 Like Rome unto the Christian saint, 
 
 Kioto to these souls appears. 
 
 Holy the thousand silver rills 
 
 Which down her mountains slide and gleam ; 
 
 Holy the Kamo's "^ gentle stream ; 
 Holy these temple-covered hills. 
 
 This is the heart of old Japan ; 
 
 Here lives the genius of the land ; 
 
 Before her gates two giants stand — 
 
 Atago-yama, Hiyei-zan.'" 
 27 
 
28 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 The heart of Nippon — ay, it is. 
 
 Here dwelt her rulers ; here the men 
 Who gave her fame with brush and pen. 
 
 What other spot compares with this ? 
 
 Here — fairest city of the East — 
 Rose, in the gold-and-purple past. 
 The temples beautiful and vast. 
 
 Where chants the satin-cassocked priest. 
 
 Here still the pilgrim comes to pray, 
 
 For nearer Heaven these hill-tops seem ; 
 And, sitting by the Kamo's stream. 
 
 Here still the poet sings his lay. 
 
 Here works the potter at his art, 
 
 Here bends the sword-smith o'er the sword 
 Here, on grotesque or tragic board. 
 
 The player plays his mimic part. 
 
KIO TO. 29 
 
 Ginkakuji,'" in this chamber old 
 
 Where now, from tiny cup, each drinks 
 Uji's '' delicious leaf, raethinks 
 
 Sat once the Ashikaga bold : 
 
 And with him — O immortal three ! — 
 His comrades tried of many a bout 
 Bacchanal, and voluptuous rout, 
 
 Monk Shuko, and gay So-Ami, 
 
 Like alchemists who mix with care 
 An elixir, each upon his mat, 
 In postures Nipponese, they sat. 
 
 And poured, with rites, this beverage rare. 
 
 Let 's drink then to the immortal three, 
 Tea-lovers in the days of old ; 
 To Yoshimasa, shogun bold, 
 
 Monk Shuko, and gay So-Ami ! 
 
30 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Turn now, my lingering feet, to where, 
 By its still lake, Kinkakuji " stands : 
 What sybarite brain conceived, what hands 
 
 Skilful upreared this structure rare ? 
 
 Five hundred years a change have wrought 
 Since Yoshimitsu, styled The Great, 
 Renounced the shogun's proud estate. 
 
 And in this spot retirement sought ; 
 
 And (though in garb a warrior bold 
 
 No more, but monk with head shaved bare) 
 Built for himself a palace fair, 
 
 Fronting a summer-house of gold. 
 
 Gone is that palace ; and thy walls 
 Time, O Kinkakuji, has not spared 
 But almost is their sheen repaired 
 
 When here the light of sunset falls ! 
 
KIO TO. 3 I 
 
 Kioto, let my pilgrim pen 
 
 Proclaim the beauty of thy hills, 
 And, by the music of thy rills 
 
 Inspired, charm occidental men. 
 
 What spot on earth can vie with thee 
 When morning floods thy fertile plain, 
 And kneels, at Gion's '" hill-side fane, 
 
 The simple-hearted devotee ? 
 
 Or when, beneath thy sky of blue. 
 At noonday's golden hour I rove, 
 And, mounting past yon bamboo-grove. 
 
 From Kiyomidzu " thee I view ? 
 
 Or when, from Maruyama's heights, 
 I watch the moon's enchanting gleam, 
 While far below, on Kamo's stream. 
 
 Glitter a million festive lights ? " 
 
32 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 mountain-girdled queen, my heart 
 Turns to thee like a child of thine, 
 And as my fingers pen this line 
 
 1 dream that we may never part ; 
 
 But that I may, when cherry-flowers 
 Bedeck Arashiyama's " side. 
 Upon the stream's gay surface glide 
 
 For many an April's happy hours ; 
 
 Or that, with geishas young and fair, 
 I may, by Biwa's " azure lake. 
 In oriental fashion take 
 
 My ease for many a summer rare ; 
 
 Or, when the proud chrysanthemum 
 Blooms in Shugakuin's °' garden old, 
 That I its beauty may behold 
 
 For many an autumn day to come ! 
 
KIOTO. 33 
 
 Her samisen '° the maiden plays, 
 Or dances in the tea-house cool, 
 Or bathes within the crystal pool, 
 
 Half-hidden, only, from my gaze. 
 
 The freer life my spirit charms, 
 The shackles of the West fall off, 
 My helmet to the East I doff, 
 
 And follow fast her beckoning arms. 
 
 Ay, why from Eden should I fly. 
 
 And face once more the troubled world ? 
 My anchor 's down, my sails are furled, 
 
 Methinks here could I live and die : 
 
 Where loving skies upon me gaze. 
 And zephyrs soft my senses greet, 
 And where, in many a valley sweet. 
 
 Still dwells the Peace of ancient days. 
 
VII. 
 AT THE TEMPLE OF KIYOMIDZU. 
 
 'T IS morn on Kiyomidzu's height, 
 
 Where once the Taiko planned his war," 
 And from a book of Buddhist lore 
 
 I hear the holy priest recite. 
 
 Below I see the Kamo lave 
 
 That city's feet he loves so well ; 
 And o'er my spirit comes a spell 
 
 Like that the fabled lotus gave. 
 
 Rest — rest — here will I rest. What good 
 To climb, for aye, the rolling wave, 
 Like Greek Ulysses, till the grave 
 
 Descends upon the weary blood ? 
 
 O rather, on this mountain side. 
 
 With some kind spirit would I dwell. 
 Till over me the temple bell 
 
 Sounds requiem at life's eventide ! 
 
 END OF CANTO FIRST. 
 34 
 
INTERLUDE. 
 
 AivAY. away ! The sea-gull's screech. 
 
 Disconsolate, accosts my ear ; 
 
 And, in their monotone, I hear 
 The breakers poundijig on the beach. 
 
 Rise, O my soul, from idle days ; 
 
 Erom nights of pleasure sweet now rise ; 
 
 Calliope, from out the skies, 
 Upon me her command thus lays : 
 
 " Life, son, is short j and though thy years 
 Not yet have numbered three times ten. 
 Yet soon the hour approaches when 
 Death's steps shall echo in thine ears. 
 
 Then rise from pleasure-seeking days, 
 Frotn flights of idlesse sweet, O rise. 
 Weave well thy pilgri/n melodies, 
 If thou wouldst tvin a Jtiasters bays ! " 
 35 
 
CANTO SECOND. 
 I. 
 
 THE INLAND SEA AND NAGASAKI. 
 
 Now, over azure waves, I thread 
 The mazes of that Inland Sea " 
 Where all earth's beauties seem to be 
 
 Combined, one to the other wed. 
 
 What simple pen, like mine, can paint 
 A picture of this land-locked way, 
 The long strait opening in the bay. 
 
 The distant islands blue and faint, 
 
 The white-sailed junks that past us glide, 
 Or in secluded harbors lie. 
 The dimpled sea, the azure sky. 
 
 The neatly-terraced mountain-side ? 
 
 Surely, in all the world, no scene 
 With this fair vision can compare. 
 No zephyrs soothe like this soft air, 
 
 No peaks surpass these summits green ! 
 37 
 
38 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 'T is morn ; the channel narrows : we 
 Approach, at last, the western gate ; 
 And through Simonoseki's strait " 
 
 Pass out into the open sea. 
 
 But still, as though she felt the spell 
 Which beauty ne'er will cease to cast, 
 And could not make this gaze her last, 
 
 Or had not heart to speak farewell. 
 
 The good ship skirts the Kiushiu " coast ; 
 Now Hizen ** lures her with his charms. 
 Now glides she through Hirado's " arms. 
 
 Not knowing which she loves the most. 
 
 So all day long, before, behind. 
 To right, to left, my ravished eyes, 
 Behold the isles of Nippon rise. 
 
 Against the Nippon skies outlined. 
 
• THE INLAND SEA AND NAGASAKI. 39 
 
 The bugle sounds the close of day, 
 The colors now are lowered for night, 
 O beautiful the sunset light 
 
 Which falls o'er Nagasaki Bay ! 
 
 O beautiful the sunset light 
 
 Falling upon the land-locked sea, 
 
 On slopes where grows the camphor-tree, 
 
 On many a temple-covered height ! 
 
 Sitting upon the frigate's deck 
 I watch the paling glow expire ; 
 Each mountain's peak is touched with fire 
 
 A floating flame each cloudlet's fleck. 
 
 I hear the boatman's evening song, 
 I see the moon to splendor grow. 
 And memories of the long ago, 
 
 Swift-winged, into my presence throng. 
 
40 PEl^RHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Now in the east, announcing day, 
 Long lines of red and gold are run ; 
 Now, from the mountain tops, the sun 
 
 Rises o'er Nagasaki Bay ; 
 
 Now sounds the boatswain's whistle shrill, 
 And from his hammock springs the tar ; 
 Now from our buoy we steam afar, 
 
 And breezes all our canvas fill. 
 
 Fair Decima" astern now lies 
 
 Where once the sons of Holland dwelt. 
 When lyemitsu's hand they felt. 
 
 Smiting his country's enemies. 
 
 Fair Decima astern now lies. 
 
 And Pappenberg *' appears ahead — 
 The background of a story dread. 
 
 Where rose the Christian converts' cries. 
 
THE INLAND SEA AND NAGASAKI. 4 1 
 
 Farewell, Japan, farewell ! We leave 
 The rocky Gotos" far behind. 
 Strong blows the monsoon's steady wind, 
 
 The restless waters round us heave ! 
 
 Farewell the bold and beauteous coasts 
 That from the floor of ocean start, 
 The landscapes that bewitched my heart, 
 
 Such as no other country boasts ! 
 
 Farewell the cryplomeria grove, 
 
 The green bamboo, the camphor-tree, 
 The valleys deep which sheltered me. 
 
 The rugged mountain-heights I love ! 
 
 Dear land, three years of life have passed 
 Since first I hailed thy sea-girt shore ; 
 I know not if I loved thee more 
 
 At that first meeting, or this last ! " 
 
II. 
 
 CANTON AND SHANGHAI. 
 
 Like to the Schuylkill of my home 
 
 The river flows through sloping shores, 
 But Mongol fingers clasp the oars, 
 
 And gaudy sampans " go and come. 
 
 Now, looming through the summer night, 
 The richly-freighted junk drifts by ; 
 Now, musical with revelry, 
 
 Glides the gay flower-boat " past my sight. 
 
 ' T is old Canton ! The moonlight falls 
 In splendor o'er the rushing river ; 
 Upon the waves 1 watch it quiver. 
 
 It sleeps upon the city walls. 
 
 'Tis hoar Cathay ! O land antique, 
 
 To whom men give the eldest's place. 
 
 My heart salutes thy wrinkled face. 
 
 Great mother of a race unique ! 
 42 
 
CANTON AND SHANGHAI. 43 
 
 A Chinese garden : Let me paint 
 
 This work of oriental art, 
 
 This triumph of the formal heart, 
 Its winding paths, its grottos quaint, 
 
 Its pond, with islets here and there, 
 Where gilded summer-houses stand. 
 Its rustic bridges, land to land 
 
 Uniting, its hydrangeas fair. 
 
 Its lotus-flowers with leaves outspread, 
 (O would their beauty I could limn !) 
 Which on the pool's calm surface swim, 
 
 Its gold-fish darting to be fed. 
 
 Here, o'er his tea, the mandarin sits. 
 
 Here rests the merchant, sleek and round. 
 Here, sheltered from the world, the sound 
 
 Of women's voices oft-times flits. 
 
44 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 And let me sing that fragrant leaf, 
 Or in Japan or China grown, 
 Which cheers the men of every zone — 
 
 Tea let me sing in stanzas brief. 
 
 Oft have mine eyes, among the hills, 
 Seen, with delight, thy shrub of green ; 
 Oft have my drooping spirits been 
 
 Strengthened, by thee, against life's ills ; 
 
 Oft, by the dusty highway worn, 
 
 Have I, at evening, sought thy cup ; 
 And oft, as now, awaked to sup 
 
 Thy magic draught at early morn. 
 
 O sovereign leaf, or in Cathay, 
 
 Or on fair Nippon's hill-sides grown, 
 The sons of men, in every zone. 
 
 Acknowledge thy imperial sway ! 
 
CANTON AND SHANGHAI. 45 
 
 O Mecca-spot of old Macao, 
 
 By feet of pilgrims often sought ; 
 Here once a poet lived and wrought, 
 
 Here reign decay and silence now ! 
 
 Camoens garden ! " down this path, 
 Shaded by bamboo, let us stroll ; 
 Or rest upon yon rocky knoll, 
 
 Which for its crown a grotto hath. 
 
 Here, where the poet once would stand, 
 See now his bust ; the features sad 
 Of him who wrote the Lustad^ 
 
 An exile in this eastern land. 
 
 Hence, after sixteen checkered years 
 Of toil, misfortune, travel, war. 
 He sought, at last, his native shore, 
 
 To die in penury and tears. 
 
46 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Northward once more ; but, as I go, 
 Thy strait, Formosa, bids me pause ; 
 Which, like a giant funnel, draws 
 
 Into itself all winds that blow. 
 
 The monsoon, hurrying southward, raves ; 
 
 But climbs our ship the ocean-steeps ; 
 
 And, like a valiant trooper, leaps 
 Into the ranks of serried waves. 
 
 Behind we leave Amoy, Swatow, 
 
 But touch where winds the river Min ; 
 At her bold gates we enter in. 
 
 And for a day behold Foochow, 
 
 Thence through Chusan's romantic isles 
 To mighty Yangtse's moutli we run ; 
 Here wait high-water, while the sun 
 
 Once more across the ocean smiles. 
 
CANTON AND SHANGHAI, 4^ 
 
 A liquid plain ! A yellow waste 
 Of waters moving toward the sea ! 
 An aqueous immensity 
 
 Advancing with majestic haste ! 
 
 This is the Yangtse ; fitly named 
 Son of the ocean by his sons ; 
 For nowhere vaster river runs, 
 
 Nor one among mankind more famed. 
 
 As on the steamer's deck I stand, 
 
 Where rolls the light-ship in the wind, 
 To right, to left, before, behind, 
 
 No sign is visible of land. 
 
 But as we, in expectant mood, 
 
 Against the eddying current steer. 
 Long strips of level shore appear. 
 
 Rising from out the level flood. 
 
48 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Long strips of level shore appear, 
 
 Which grow to green and fertile plains ; 
 Here busy agriculture reigns, 
 
 And stands " the model city " " here. 
 
 For such is, O Shanghai, the name 
 
 Thy western sons their home have given ; 
 And as I tread thy bund " at even, 
 
 I deem thee worthy of thy fame. 
 
 Here modern Europe dwells among 
 The water-courses of Cathay ; 
 Here churches stand, and mansions gay, 
 
 And rises many a stately hong " ; 
 
 Here costly silks, and fragrant teas, 
 And furs, and fans, and porcelains rare 
 Are centred in profusion ere 
 
 They pass away to distant seas. 
 
III. 
 
 KOREA. 
 
 In funnel-hats, and gowns of white, 
 Each one with fan or pipe in hand, 
 I see the swart Koreans stand, 
 
 Viewing us from their native height. 
 
 But soon their raft-Hke boats they drive 
 Across the wave with lusty arm, 
 And o'er our decks, like children, swarm, 
 
 With eye and hand inquisitive. 
 
 A hermit land ; last one of all 
 To open to the world its doors ; 
 Whose harbors are forbidden shores, 
 
 Whose headlands are a fortress-wall. 
 
 A race recluse ; yet soon, I think, 
 To learn the lesson Fate has sent ; 
 And Orient to Occident 
 
 Knit with another golden link/* 
 
 4 49 
 
50 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Now, as behind us dimmer grow 
 
 Quelpaert's " bold outlines to our eyes, 
 Unnumbered islands round us rise — 
 
 Korea's archipelago. 
 
 They rise, they stud the silent sea 
 As stars the dark-blue heaven above. 
 And through their clusters bright we move, 
 
 Like fleecy cloud, all silently. 
 
 They rise, they stand above the wave, 
 Some castles old we can but deem, 
 While others domes of mountains seem. 
 
 Whose groins have ocean for a grave. 
 
 Here wheel the wild sea-gulls ; here play 
 The seals in many a coral grove ; 
 Here float, upon the waves above, 
 
 The fisher-boats of far Cathay. 
 
KOREA. 51 
 
 The Land of Morning Calm ! Well might 
 Kishi ^* so name this region fair ; 
 Save on the north sea-bounded ; there 
 
 Rises Paik-tu," the ever-white. 
 
 Here mountains gaze, serenely grand, 
 
 Upon the deep which round them gleams ; 
 Here, by the valleys' tranquil streams, 
 
 In rows, the snowy herons stand ; 
 
 Here, in his looking-chamber '° high. 
 Oft sits the sage or poet grave. 
 Viewing some scene of wood and wave, 
 
 With wild-geese flying in the sky. 
 
 One trophy only I brought forth, 
 
 Cho-sen," thy barriers from within — 
 A royal tiger's splendid skin. 
 
 Shot in the forests of the north." 
 
52 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Behind us, China's shore to seek 
 
 Once more, we leave the Korean strand, 
 And o'er the Yellow Ocean stand 
 
 For Shantung's promontory bleak. 
 
 Its light we hail at break of day, 
 
 Shining the stars of morning through, 
 And in thy harbor deep, Chefoo, 
 
 Anchor, and for a sennight stay. 
 
 Then over Pechili's wild bay 
 
 Our vessel steams, with many a roll ; 
 
 Tientsin our present journey's goal. 
 To world-renowned Peking the way. 
 
 Here flows the Peiho's tortuous flood. 
 Here stretches Chihli's wind-swept plain, 
 Here seems monotony to reign, 
 
 And meets the eye nor hill nor wood." 
 
IV. 
 
 IN THE TROPICS. 
 
 Once more, as on a mustang free, 
 I ride upon the dark blue wave ; 
 Once more I hear the monsoon rave, 
 
 As stand we down the China Sea. 
 
 To right, to left, before, behind. 
 No land is seen, no sail in sight ; 
 By day the sun, the moon by night. 
 
 Our comrades are, and the swift wind. 
 
 Blow — blow — thou busy gale, whose wings 
 In the far north began their flight ; 
 Thou bearest me on to sun-lands bright, 
 
 To those rich isles Camoens sings, 
 
 To strange Siam, to Borneo's beach. 
 To that fair channel at whose door, 
 Embowered in palms, sits Singapore, 
 
 On — on — till India's strand we reach ! 
 53 
 
54 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Now, as we approach the invisible line 
 Which from that other hemisphere 
 Divides our own, each night more clear. 
 
 The Southern Cross begins to shine. 
 
 O constellation beautiful ! 
 Symbol thou, in celestial air, 
 Of burden that each life must bear, 
 
 With poignant pain, or sorrow dull. 
 
 O constellation beautiful ! 
 I see thee shining golden-fair. 
 And golden grows the cross I bear, 
 
 With poignant pain, or sorrow dull. 
 
 For, like an angel looking down 
 Upon this ocean where we toss, 
 Thou teachest that without the cross 
 
 Comes never the triumphal crown. 
 
IN THE TROPICS. 55 
 
 Penang, how does this tropic scene, 
 
 Through which my lingering feet now stray, 
 Remind me of my boyhood's day, 
 
 And hours fantastic which have been. 
 
 When, tranced by travellers' tales, I sat, 
 And saw a mountain-side like this, 
 With equatorial trees which kiss 
 
 Above a waterfall Hke that." 
 
 Here reigns, O bright Malayan land. 
 Summer throughout the circling year ; 
 Here comes nor ice, nor snowstorm ; here 
 
 The palms in beauty ever stand ; 
 
 Here swings the monkey from the tree ; 
 
 Here in the wood the peacock stalks ; 
 
 Here garrulously the parrot talks ; 
 Here builds the swallow by the sea ! 
 
$6 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Home of the shaggy cocoa-nut, 
 The durion and the mangosteen, 
 How fair thy flora spreads— bright-green, 
 
 And dotted with the mountain hut ! 
 
 Now in thy forests deep I stand, 
 Where grows the gutta-percha tree, 
 Whence come sapan and ebony 
 
 And eagle-wood for many a land. 
 
 Now through plantations broad I ride 
 Of coffee-bush and sugar-cane. 
 Till day's bright hours begin to wane, 
 
 And night stalks o'er the mountain-side. 
 
 Home of that tufted palm-tree tall, 
 
 Whose shaggy nut hangs o'er our heads. 
 How fair thy flora round me spreads — 
 
 Bright-green, luxuriant, tropical ! 
 
IN THE TROPICS. 57 
 
 Farewell, Penang ! The vessel's head 
 Points westward o'er the Indian Sea ; 
 The sun beats down right lustily ; 
 
 The awnings o'er the deck are spread. 
 
 In couch-like chairs of light bamboo, 
 On games or novels bent, we sit : 
 Or idly watch the sea-bird flit 
 
 Above the indigotic blue. 
 
 We rise each morning with the sun. 
 And in the ocean-water lave, 
 Dipped freshly from the cooling wave, 
 
 As on our course we swiftly run. 
 
 We drink the fragrant tea ; we sip 
 The sherbet cold as winter's snow ; 
 While mangosteen and pomolo " 
 
 Tempt, with their juice, the grateful lip. 
 
58 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Nor gale, nor calm, our ship alarms. 
 
 We share her strength and naught we fear. 
 Ever her mighty pulse we hear, 
 
 Beating through iron-muscled arms. 
 
 We watch the sturdy captain stand, 
 Sextant to eye, and sight the sun ; 
 Or crimson-turbaned Lascars run 
 
 Aloft, with nimble foot and hand. 
 
 And when descends the balmy night, 
 And o'er the deck the moonlight falls, 
 Music some tender past recalls, 
 
 Or fills the future with delight. 
 
 Come tropic calm, or breezes free, 
 
 Come waters smooth, or waves which heave. 
 Like arrow in its flight we cleave 
 
 The circle of the dark-blue sea." 
 
V. 
 ARABIA. 
 
 Long lines of camels everywhere, 
 Winding across the desert sand, 
 Marching across Mohammed's land, 
 
 Laden with burdens rich and fair. 
 
 Aden, how fiery thy sun's ray 
 As, standing on this arid rock, 
 Where broke, of old, the battle's shock, 
 
 I gaze upon the glassy bay ; 
 
 Or, through the city's streets below, 
 Where silent stalks the bearded sheik, 
 And turbaned merchants buyers seek. 
 
 Aimlessly wander to and fro. 
 
 Long lines of camels everywhere, 
 Winding across the desert sand. 
 Marching across Mohammed's land, 
 
 Laden with burdens rich and fair. 
 59 
 
6o PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Standing on Mocha's famous ground, 
 O coffee, let me sing thy praise. 
 For oft hast thou the poet's lays 
 
 Inspired, and dull depression drowned. 
 
 What cup like thee, at break of day. 
 To touch the spirit's lethargy ? 
 To quicken with life the drowsy eye ? 
 
 And nerve the hand for toil or fray ? 
 
 Or when, at evening's hour, we dine, 
 And rare Tobacco lends his joy, 
 What brings such rest without alloy, 
 
 O magic berry, drink half-divine ? 
 
 Fabled nepenthe thou art not ; 
 
 Nor dreams, nor wild-eyed ecstasy. 
 Nor deep oblivion dwell with thee ! 
 
 Comfort thou bringst to mortal lot ! 
 
VI. 
 EGYPT. 
 
 Egypt, upon thine ancient shore, 
 
 To-day, a pilgrim late, I stand ; 
 
 Across my foot-prints drifts the sand ; 
 The silent desert lies before. 
 
 I turn my back upon the sea. 
 
 That sea by Moses crossed of old, 
 
 And, through the land of the Pharaohs rolled, 
 I halt where Memphis used to be. 
 
 O memorable hour when first. 
 Gazing from Cairo's citadel. 
 The shapes which fancy knew so well 
 
 Upon my outward vision burst ! 
 
 Nile, pyramids, and sphinx I saw, 
 
 Transfigured by a sunset rare ; 
 
 Almost I breathed that Egypt's air 
 
 Where Ramses' royal word was law ! 
 6i 
 
62 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Land of the ibis, from the hour 
 
 Of boyhood have I dreamed of thee ; 
 And now, with waking eyes, I see 
 
 The evidences of thy power ! 
 
 I tread where mighty Memphis stood — 
 Lo, those tomb-temples of the past 
 Whose shapes, pyramidal and vast. 
 
 Have weathered Time's relentless flood ! 
 
 I tread where mighty Memphis stood — 
 Lo, on the arid desert's brinks, 
 Inscrutable, sits the Great Sphinx, 
 
 Like necromancer in his hood ! 
 
 And where that city met the eye, 
 
 Named for the sun's resplendent disk,' 
 Still points the lofty obelisk. 
 
 With silent finger, toward the sky ! 
 
EGYPT. 63 
 
 Imperial Egypt that hast been, 
 Thou risest from the buried past, 
 And livest before me as thou wast, 
 
 In peaceful or in warlike scene. 
 
 I see, upon the banks of Nile, 
 Thy kings to great Osiris pray. 
 Or, like the graven Ramses, slay 
 
 The lion and the crocodile. 
 
 I see thy sacerdotal trains 
 
 Long avenues of sphinxes pace, 
 
 While throngs surround each temple-place. 
 
 Incense amid, and music's strains. 
 
 I see, in helmet and cuirass, 
 With shield on arm, and spear in hand, 
 Thy troops, in battle, charge or stand, 
 
 Or, conquerors proud, before me pass. 
 
64 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Thou pile of Cheops, up whose side, 
 Despoiled by many a vandal hand, 
 I climb, or on whose top I stand, 
 
 And gaze upon the desert wide ; 
 
 Or through whose corridors to deep 
 
 Chambers, where dwells perpetual night, 
 Save when the turbaned Bedouin's light 
 
 Illumes them for a time, I creep ; 
 
 What art thou, astronomic sign. 
 
 Or kingly tomb, or store-house vast. 
 Or monument, in Egypt's past. 
 
 Of metric system held divine ? '" 
 
 We know not ; we who, in this day. 
 Or wise savant, or traveller tanned. 
 View from thy peak the Libyan land, 
 
 Or round thy giant bases stray. 
 
EGYPT. 65 
 
 We know not ; but methinks thou art, 
 
 For so the elder poets sing, 
 
 The mausoleum of a king ; 
 Here lay proud Cheops' mortal part. 
 
 I see, in dreams, the work begun, 
 Completed is the builder's plan, 
 Granite is brought from far Asswan, 
 
 The structure grows from sun to sun ; 
 
 I see the dusky toilers swarm 
 Like ants upon the desert sand, 
 Huge stones defy the workman's hand. 
 
 The derrick lends its mighty arm. 
 
 High o'er that chamber under-ground 
 
 Rose, year by year, the royal tomb ; 
 
 And centuries after, in this room, 
 
 Mamoun a painted mummy found. 
 5 
 
66 PENKHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 And thou, whose mutilated face 
 Still gazes toward the sacred Nile, 
 Gray sphinx, beneath what Pharaoh's smile 
 
 Was brought forth thy colossal grace ? 
 
 Speak : who approved thy dual form, 
 Man-headed, with the lion's frame, 
 And sought to build, for Egypt's fame, 
 
 A shape outliving time and storm ? 
 
 Who carved thee from the solid rock, 
 And placed the temple at thy feet, 
 Here where the sand and valley meet, 
 
 On this plateau of limestone block ? 
 
 No answer : "Cephron " ventures one 
 Sagacious, skilled in Egypt's lore ; 
 " Nay," cries another, " long before 
 
 Cephron this monument was done ! " 
 
EG YP T. 6y 
 
 Where now I stand Cambyses stood, 
 And marvelled at this image hoar, 
 And Alexander, fresh from war, 
 
 Viewed from this spot the Nile's calm flood. 
 
 Here, with sweet Egypt by his side. 
 Came Caesar, master of the world. 
 And bent his head divine, where curled. 
 
 At Rome, the wreath of laurel wide. 
 
 Here came Mamoun, with Arab band. 
 And pierced the sacred pyramid 
 Wherein great Cheops' bones were hid. 
 
 But found no treasure for his hand. 
 
 And here that dark -haired youth of France, 
 Napoleon, whose immortal name 
 Stands next to his of Rome in fame. 
 
 Repelled the Mamaluke's fiery lance. 
 
VII. 
 HOMEWARD BOUND. 
 
 Egypt, farewell ! Thy desert's sand, 
 
 The emerald valley of thy Nile, 
 
 Thy Nile's self, gemmed with many an isle, 
 We leave. I lift a parting hand. 
 
 I stretch a hand across the wave 
 
 To thee ; perchance no more we '11 meet : 
 Perchance no more these wandering feet 
 
 Shall tread thy shore this side the grave. 
 
 Farewell ! I seek my native land ! 
 Emerging from the mystic East, 
 After long years, once more I 'd feast 
 
 My homesick eyes on Schuylkill's strand ! 
 
 Behind us fades Port Said away, 
 
 The Mediterranean blue we ride, 
 
 Europe upon our starboard side. 
 
 Upon our port hoar Africa. 
 68 
 
HOMEWARD BOUND. 6g 
 
 Old ocean, once again I feel 
 
 Thy waters blue beneath me heave ; 
 And with the fading shore I leave 
 
 The Past behind : its book I seal : 
 
 Its book I close and seal with tears, 
 Then toward the future turn my face ; 
 A prayer within my soul for grace 
 
 Strongly to walk in coming years. 
 
 Thou who, over sea and land. 
 Through many a danger, hast brought me, 
 I lift in thanks my voice to Thee, 
 
 1 mark in all Thy guiding hand ! 
 
 Fly westward, white-winged ship, and bear 
 Me safely o'er the billow's comb ! 
 Sail onward, ship of life, toward home, 
 
 Through straining gales, or weather fair ! 
 
VIII. 
 BY THE WISSAHICKON. 
 
 At morn I hear the robin sing 
 As once he sang in childhood's days ; 
 No sterile seas now meet my gaze, 
 
 But budding earth in early spring. 
 
 At night I see, in golden car, 
 
 Fair Venus hastening to her rest ; 
 No longer seeks she Neptune's breast, 
 
 Yon forest 't is which lures the star. 
 
 Home once again ! With stick in hand 
 I tread the path across the fields — 
 The long brown path. What travel yields 
 
 Delight like this ? To walk — to stand 
 
 In old familiar spots ; to feel 
 
 This grass beneath my feet ; to breathe 
 
 This air again ! Back, waves which seethe ; 
 
 I *11 off no more on roving keel ! 
 70 
 
BY THE WISSAHICKON. 7 1 
 
 Over me bends my native sky, 
 
 Like mother o'er her long-lost child ; 
 Round me, in place of billows wild, 
 
 The fragrant clover-meadows lie. 
 
 How pleasant, after restless years 
 Of travel, danger, sickness, strife, 
 Once more to taste this peaceful life, 
 
 Where earth her kindliest aspect wears. 
 
 The medley of the birds at dawn. 
 The crowing of the barn-yard cocks. 
 The voices of the herds and flocks, 
 
 The doves' soft cooing on the lawn, 
 
 The thousand rural sounds which form 
 The song of nature in our clime. 
 Allure me like a siren's rhyme 
 
 After the battle or the storm. 
 
72 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Before me runs the foot-path brown, 
 
 The dark-green hemlocks o'er me bend, 
 As through the woods my way I wend, 
 
 Far from the clamor of the town. 
 
 How sweet to wander thus at will 
 The labyrinth of the forest wild ! 
 What hoary rocks are round me piled ! 
 
 The aromatic air how still ! 
 
 The squirrel runs from tree to tree, 
 
 Along the intertwining limbs. 
 
 The thrush pours forth his vesper hymns, 
 And sunset through the woods I see. 
 
 Sunset on Wissahickon's hills ! 
 
 Let me the beauteous sight behold ! 
 
 Each leafy height is bathed in gold, 
 Gold vapor all the valley fills ! 
 
BY THE WISSAHICKON. 73 
 
 Descend to where the smooth road winds 
 
 Beside the ever-winding stream ; 
 
 Methinks the landscape-painter's dream 
 Here, surely, its fulfilment finds ! 
 
 Here sylvan shadows sleep or flit, 
 Here bends a sky of blue divine, 
 Here waters, hills, and woods combine 
 
 To form a picture exquisite. 
 
 And as in this romantic spot 
 
 I halt, and for a moment rest. 
 
 Gazing upon the golden West, 
 I think of days which now are not. 
 
 My boyhood's haunt ! To yon clear stream 
 How often, in summer, have I come, 
 And in those cooling waters swum 
 
 Where now the lights of sunset gleam ! 
 
 END OF CANTO SECOND. 
 
FINALE. 
 
 O BOOK^ distilled fro?n Joy and fears, 
 Frofu passion, sorroiv, erro)-, strife, 
 The epic of my earlier life, 
 
 The record of my wandering years. 
 
 Thou lahom my youthful hands began, 
 And ma?ihood's touch noio lingers o'er. 
 Fashioned on Egypt's ruined shore. 
 
 And 'midst the valleys of J^apan. 
 
 Canst thou a station find and hold 
 
 Among the songs ivhich charm the world? 
 Or ivilt thou be unkindly hurled 
 
 Back to this vine-clad cottage old 
 
 Where now I sit, in doubtful mood 
 Whether or not to give thee flight? 
 O world, tvhate'er thy voice — V is right! 
 
 O book, whate'er thy fate — '/ is good! 
 
 75 
 
NOTES. 
 
 1. Kadzusa. A province of Japan. 
 
 2. Mount Fuji. The highest mountain in Japan. 
 
 3. On the night of January 23, 1870, while standing out of 
 Yedo Bay, homeward bound, the U. S. ship Oneida was run 
 into and sunk by the P. & O. steamer Bombay. 
 
 4. Uraga. The village opposite which Commodore Perry 
 first anchored, July 8, 1853, bearing a letter from President 
 Fillmore to the Shogun of Japan. These lines were written 
 in 1880. 
 
 5. Samurai. Under the old regime a man belonging to 
 the military class, entitled to bear arms. 
 
 6. Daimio. One of the great nobles, under the old feudal 
 system, among whom the land of Japan was divided. 
 
 7. lyeyasu. The first Shogun of the Tokugawa line, and 
 generally regarded as the greatest character ever produced by 
 Japan. He was the founder of Yedo. 
 
 8. lyemitsu. Grandson of lyeyasu. By him, in 1624, 
 was issued the edict expelling foreigners from Japan. 
 
 9. Will Adams. An Englishman, chief pilot of a fleet of 
 Dutch ships which sailed, in the year 1598, from Holland for 
 
 77 
 
78 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 Japan. He entered the service of the Shogun, married a 
 Japanese woman, was made lord of the village of Hemi, and 
 never afterward left Japan, He died May 6, 1620. His 
 grave and that of his wife are situated on the top of a beauti- 
 ful hill overlooking the Bay of Yedo. 
 
 10. Kuruma. Literally a " wheel " or " vehicle." In 
 this case applied to the jinrikisha, a small two-wheeled 
 carriage, drawn by a man. 
 
 11. Sumida. A river which flows through Tokio. 
 
 12. The temples of the Shinto faith, built of unpainted 
 wood, and adorned with neither image nor picture, are often 
 simple to the point of plainness. 
 
 13. Fuji-mi taira. Literally, " Terrace for looking at 
 Fuji." 
 
 14. Zojoji. A celebrated Buddhist temple, destroyed by 
 fire on the morning of January i, 1S74. In what were once 
 the temple grounds, but which now form the Public Gardens 
 of Shiba, are those marvels of Japanese art, the tombs of the 
 Shoguns. 
 
 15. Geisha. A professional woman, with the accomplish- 
 ments of playing, singing, and dancing. 
 
 16. Musume. A young girl. 
 
 17. Sake. A liquor brewed from rice. 
 
 18. Asakusa. The most popular temple in Tokio, whose 
 extensive grounds daily present the appearance of a vast fair. 
 
NO TES. 79 
 
 It is one of the sights of the metropolis, and is usually among 
 the first places visited by foreigners. 
 
 19. Uyeno. One of the Public Gardens of Tokio, form- 
 erly the grounds of a great Buddhist temple. The main build- 
 ing was destroyed by fire in 1S68, during the progress of a 
 battle between the Imperialists and the followers of the Sho- 
 gun ; but the magnificent park still remains. Here, on fine 
 afternoons in April, all Tokio assembles to view the beautiful 
 cherry-flowers, which are then at their best. 
 
 20. Gompachi and Komurasaki. Famous lovers of Japan, 
 whose grave is at the village of Meguro, near Tokio. Their 
 story has been well told by Mr. Mitford in his Tales of Old 
 Japan. 
 
 21. Tokaido. Road of the Eastern Sea. One of the two 
 great roads between Tokio and Kioto, so called in contradis- 
 tinction to the Nakasendo, or Road of the Central Mountains. 
 
 22. Nihom-Bashi. The Bridge of Japan, in the centre of 
 Tokio, from which distances in every direction are measured. 
 
 23. Norimono. A kind of sedan-chair. 
 
 24. Kuge. A noble of the Mikado's court under the old 
 riglme. 
 
 25. Sengakuji. Spring Hill Temple, whose cemetery 
 contains the graves of the Forty-Seven Ronins. The events 
 which culminated in the death of these men have been made 
 the theme of countless romances, poems, and dramas ; and 
 when the writer visited the tombs, he found there pilgrims 
 from all parts of Japan, 
 
80 PENRH YN ' S PIL GRIM A GE. 
 
 26. At the village of Hase, near Kamakura, is a colossal 
 image of Buddha, celebrated for its remarkable beauty. It 
 was formerly protected by a temple, but to-day rests in the 
 open air, surrounded by a grove of bamboo and oak. 
 
 27. Lake Biwa, according to tradition, was produced by an 
 earthquake in the year 286 B.C. ; and the same night Mount 
 Fuji rose from the plains of Suruga. 
 
 28. Kamo-gawa. A river which flows through the middle 
 of Kioto, spanned by a number of bridges. 
 
 29. Atago-yama and Hiyei-zan. Two conspicuous peaks 
 in the range of mountains which surrounds Kioto. 
 
 30. Ginkakuji. A temple which takes its name from the 
 Ginkaku, or " Silver Pavilion," which stands in the gardens. 
 It was, at one time, the residence of the Shogun Ashikaga 
 Yoshimasa ; and is mainly noticeable as being the place where, 
 about 400 years ago, Yoshimasa, his retainer So-Ami, and the 
 monk Shuko, invented and first practised the mysterious rites 
 of tea-drinking. 
 
 31. Uji. A district near Kioto celebrated for producing 
 the best tea in Japan. 
 
 32. Kinkakuji. A monastery so called from the Kinkaku, 
 or "Golden Pavilion," which stands in the garden. The 
 grounds were the site of the palace (now gone) built by the 
 ex-Shogun Yoshimitsu when, in 1397, he abdicated his ofTice, 
 assumed the garb of a Buddhist monk, and retired from the 
 world. 
 
NOTES. 8 1 
 
 33. Gion. A well-known Shinto temple. 
 
 34. The view of Kioto from the height on which stands 
 the great Buddhist temple of Kiyomidzu is one of extraordinary 
 beauty. 
 
 35. On summer nights the wide pebbly bed of the Kamo- 
 gawa — which, except when swollen by heavy rains, is a mere 
 rivulet — is covered with innumerable little platforms or booths, 
 each one occupied by its party of pleasure-seekers. 
 
 36. Arashiyama. A favorite resort in April, when the 
 side of the mountain is covered with beautiful cherry-flowers. 
 
 37. Lake Biwa, also called the Lake of Omi, is a beautiful 
 and celebrated lake near Kioto. "Its area," I quote from 
 the excellent handbook of Satow and Hawes, " is about 
 equal to that of the Lake of Geneva. Much mention is 
 made by the Japanese of the Omi no Hakkei, or eight beau- 
 ties of Omi. These are the Autumn Moon from Ishiyama, 
 the Evening Snow on Hirayama, the Blaze of Evening at 
 Seta, the Evening Bell of Miidera, the Boats Sailing back 
 from Yabase, a Bright Sky with a Breeze at Awadzu, Rain by 
 Night at Karasaki, and the Wild Geese Alighting at Katada. 
 It is evident that in order to enjoy these beauties the places 
 named must be visited at the proper hours and seasons." 
 
 38. Shugakuin. A noted garden laid out by the Mikado 
 Go-Midzuno in the seventeenth century. 
 
 39. Samisen. A guitar with three strings. 
 
 40. It was while sitting upon the mountain where stands 
 
82 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 the temple of Kiyomidzu that Hideyoshi, better known as the 
 Taiko, conceived his project for the invasion of China. 
 
 41. The channs of the Inland Sea have been dwelt upon 
 by every traveller ; and I doubt if there is, on the surface of 
 the globe, a more beautiful combination of ocean and 
 mountains. 
 
 42. Simonoseki Strait. The western entrance to the In- 
 land Sea, uniting its waters with those of the Strait of Korea. 
 
 43. Kiushiu. The southernmost of the four principal 
 islands which compose the Empire of Japan. 
 
 44. Ilizen. A province of Kiushiu. 
 
 45. Hirado. A small island off the coast of Ilizen. 
 
 46. Decima. An islet in the Bay of Nagasaki upon which 
 (at the time of the expulsion of foreigners from Japan in the 
 middle of the seventeenth century) a small colony of Hol- 
 landers was suffered to remain. Their intercourse with the 
 outer world was limited to the visit of one ship a year. 
 
 47. Pappenberg. A rock near the entrance to the harbor 
 of Nagasaki from which, in the seventeenth century, many 
 thousands of native Christians are said to have been tlirown. 
 
 48. Goto Islands. A group off the western coast of 
 Kiushiu. 
 
 49. I have often tried to account for the peculiar charm 
 which Japan has for most foreigners, both men and women, 
 and which I confess it has for me, but have never been able to 
 do so quite to my own satisfaction. Elements of attraction 
 
NOTES. 83 
 
 there certainly are in the mental characteristics, the manners 
 and customs, the arts, the literature, and the manufactures, of 
 this Oriental people ; but not the least charm lies, perhaps, in 
 the scenery, which seems to possess, in itself, the quality of a 
 singular attractiveness. A landscape externally beautiful, 
 animated by an indescribable spirit of friendliness, welcomes 
 the traveller to this sea-girt isle. Who, that has once seen, 
 but remembers with a feeling akin to affection, the valley of 
 Kioto, the bay of Nagasaki, the mountains of Nikko ; Lake 
 Biwa, the Inland Sea, or Fuji-San. But whether the charm 
 lies in the land or the people, or, as seems probable, in both 
 combined, certain it is that when I first set foot upon this 
 unique isle I felt the same indescribable fascination which 
 now, after an acquaintance of many years, still holds me in its 
 tenacious but delightful toils. 
 
 50. Sampan. A small Chinese boat. 
 
 51. Flower-boat. A pleasure boat. 
 
 52. At Macao, near Hongkong, the traveller is still shown 
 the garden of the great Portuguese poet, Camoens, who passed 
 sixteen years of his life in the far East. On a rocky knoll 
 overlooking the water is a bronze bust of the poet, with, un- 
 derneath, a quotation of three stanzas from the Lusiaci. 
 
 53. European Shanghai is a prosperous and beautiful city, 
 and is popularly known on the China coast as " The Model 
 Settlement. " 
 
 54. Bund. The street facing the water. 
 
84 PENRHYN'S PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 55. Hong. A place of business. 
 
 56. At the time these lines were written Korea was still 
 unopened. 
 
 57. Quelpaert. A large island south of, and belonging to, 
 Korea. 
 
 58. Kishi. The founder of Korea. 
 
 59. Paik-tu. White-Head. A mountain in the north of 
 Korea. 
 
 60. In Japan, and also in Korea, a room called the " look- 
 ing-chamber " is often set apart for the contemplation of some 
 beautiful scene. 
 
 61. Cho-sen. The native name of Korea. Literally 
 " Morning Calm." 
 
 62. The tiger found in Mongolia and the northern prov- 
 inces of Korea is a magnificent animal ; larger, if anything, 
 than that of India. 
 
 63. The great plains of northern China, upon which stand 
 Tientsin and Peking, are, especially in winter, the embodiment 
 of loneliness and monotony. 
 
 64. I find the following entry in my diary. " Arrived in 
 Penang early this morning. Went ashore after breakfast with 
 
 Count B , and drove through groves of cocoa-nut palm, 
 
 and coffee plantations to ' The Waterfall,' on the side of the 
 mountain. The scenery, with its luxuriant and truly equatorial 
 vegetation, recalled to my mind the descriptions I had read in 
 
NOTES. 85 
 
 books of travel early in life ; and with such vividness that I 
 almost felt as if I were revisiting, after many years, a spot 
 familiar to me in my boyhood." 
 
 65. Mangosteen and pomolo. Two delicious fruits of the 
 East. 
 
 66. Life on board the great passenger steamers which ply 
 between Europe and the Far-East is certainly as near " sweet 
 doing-nothing " as one often comes in this world. 
 
 67. Heliopolis. 
 
 68. The theory of Professor Piazzi Smythe is, I believe, 
 that the Great Pyramid is a memorial of a system of weights 
 and measures revealed by special inspiration, and intended to 
 be universal. 
 
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