Eli Siegel has been giving a series of classes on the anthology of Chinese poetry titled The White Pony, edited by Robert Payne. And he began the July 10th class with a discussion of two poems by the 4th-century Chinese poet, Tao Yuan-ming, whose poetry we've been studying. What made this discussion particularly valuable was that poems sounding not grand or impressive were shown to be authentic. For example, take the poem “In Early Morning” which begins:

(Translations by Yang Chi-sing)

Poetry can come in many modes, and this can include the subdued, restrained, leisurely style of Tao Yuan-ming of the 4th century, who has structure and melody and belongs to literature.

Then Mr. Siegel looked at the poetic prose of the American writer, Lafcadio Hearn, who lived from 1850-1904 and wrote a good deal about Japan and the East, where he married and spent the last 14 years of his life. Mr. Siegel was continuing a discussion of Hearn begun the week before, and he explained, "I am discussing him further because Hearn came exceedingly close to seeing art as unselfishness or good will. It sounds corny to say Hearn saw art as kindness, but it is so. Tolstoy was saying something of the same thing about this time. But Hearn's way is worth studying." Here are two key sentences from a lecture he gave while he was teaching English literature at the University of Tokyo from 1896 to 1903. This lecture is called "The Question of the Highest Art."  Hearn writes:


"Hearn is saying that what love does in the personal field, art does in the impersonal field," Mr. Siegel observed.

Art as unselfishness was shown dramatically in a story by Hearn called "The Soul of the Great Bell." In this story, a mandarin is unable to cast a great bell successfully for the emperor. The emperor informs him that if he fails in his third try, he will be beheaded. The mandarin's beautiful daughter discovers that the only way the bell can be made is if the body of a maiden is melted in the crucible and blended with the metals. To save her father's life, she leaps into the crucible, and the great bell is cast successfully, beautiful in form and wonderful in tone. Art, Lafcadio Hearn is saying, is successful if there is selflessness.



And there is the purity and delicacy of this description of the world in the the midst of intense suffering:


This amidst intense physical pain.

There was one paragraph in this story which Mr. Siegel saw as worthy of particular attention. "Hemingway," he said, "could with simplicity place people and a few objects in a way that one remembered. This paragraph of Hearn's is as good as Hemingway. It is as if a painting were painting itself before you. It is simply a gathering--but what a gathering!" Here is the paragraph:

All proceeded to the house under the great trees; Feliu and Capt. Harris leading the way. It was sultry and bright; --even the sea breeze was warm; there were pleasant odors in the shade, and a soporific murmur made of leaf-speech and the hum of gnats. Only the captain entered the house with Feliu; the rest remained without--some taking seats on a rude plank under the oaks--others flinging themselves down upon the weeds--a few stood still, leaning upon their rifles.Then Carmen came out to them with gourds and a bucket of fresh water, which all were glad to drink.

Mr. Siegel said: "The measured triumphant power of this paragraph is a highpoint of Hearn's. This is one of the best bringings together of the offerings of the world." Through this discussion I felt that a new dimension had been added to the seeing and critical appreciation of the prose of Lafcadio Hearn.