Off the Cape of Isora,
Even the fisherman catching tai,[92]
Even the fisherman catching tai,—
[Works] for the sake of the woman beloved,—
Even the fisherman catching tai,
Even the fisherman catching tai!
[92] ] Chrysopbris cardinalis, a kind of sea-bream,—generally esteemed the best of Japanese fishes.
But a still more remarkable effect is obtained in the following ancient song by the extraordinary reiteration of an uncompleted phrase, and by a double suspension. I can imagine nothing more purely natural: indeed the realism of these simple utterances has almost the quality of pathos:—
AGÉMAKI
(Old lyrical drama—date uncertain)
Agémaki[93] wo
Waséda ni yarité ya!
So omou to,
So omou to,
So omou to,
So omou to,
So omou to,—
So omou to,
Nani-mo sezushité,—
Harubi sura,
Harubi sura,
Harubi sura,
Harubi sura,
Harubi sura!
My darling boy!—
Oh! they have sent him to the ricefields!
When I think about him,—
When I think,
When I think,
When I think,
When I think,—
When I think about him!
I—doing nothing at all,—
Even on this spring-day,
Even this spring-day,
Even this spring-day,
Even this spring-day,
Even on this spring-day!—
[93] ] It was formerly the custom to shave the heads of boys, leaving only a tuft or lock of hair on either temple. Such a lock was called agémaki, a word also meaning "tassel"; and eventually the term came to signify a boy or lad. In these songs it is used as a term of endearment,—much as an English girl might speak of her sweetheart as "my dear lad," or "my darling boy."
Other forms of repetition and of refrain are furnished in the two following lyrics:—