POETIC PROSE
POETIC PROSE
By YUKIO OZAKI
Madame Ozaki is the wife of a former mayor of Tokyo and former Minister of Justice in the Okuma Cabinet. She writes for many magazines. Among her books are:Warriors of Old Japan; The Japanese Fairy Book; Romances of Old Japan.
Madame Ozaki is the wife of a former mayor of Tokyo and former Minister of Justice in the Okuma Cabinet. She writes for many magazines. Among her books are:Warriors of Old Japan; The Japanese Fairy Book; Romances of Old Japan.
The essay is so natural an expression of the writer's personality that it has much in common with lyric poetry. Both the essay and the lyric, at their best, are ardent expressions of self. When the emotion in either is deep and genuine the language takes on richness of rhythm, and the effect becomes entirely poetic. Many of the best essays contain passages that in all except meter and rime are poems,—prose poems.Childrenis an example of highly poetic prose.
The essay is so natural an expression of the writer's personality that it has much in common with lyric poetry. Both the essay and the lyric, at their best, are ardent expressions of self. When the emotion in either is deep and genuine the language takes on richness of rhythm, and the effect becomes entirely poetic. Many of the best essays contain passages that in all except meter and rime are poems,—prose poems.
Childrenis an example of highly poetic prose.
Let us love our children serenely, devotedly, even passionately. Surely in their innocence and angelic simplicity they play on the threshold of heaven. Let us hush our noisy activities and stale anxieties, and under the trees and in the open that they love listen to the words of refreshing wisdom dropping like jewels from their naïve lips.
Let us be willing to sit at their dainty little feet, so unused to the dusty roads of this world, and learn from them divinest lessons. Let us with uplifted hearts realize our responsibility when with unconscious humility they accept us as their guides in the sweet, fresh morning of their lives.
O sister-mothers in the world, let us awaken to a deeper sense of this sublime trust, our high charge in the care of these immortal treasures, only for a little while, such a little while, given into our keeping! Let us make our hearts, our minds, our consciences worthy of these transcendent marvels of life!
Oh, joy of joys! Oh, purest wonder! How often my children lift the invisible veils that hide undreamed-of casementsopening out on luminous vistas of the mystical world in which they wander, roaming fancy-free with keen and wondering delight!
Take me with you, oh, take me with you, children mine, when with bright eyes and with kindled imagination, all spirit, fire and dew, you sally forth on these highroads of discovery, to the elysiums of your day-dreams, peopled by the souls of birds, animals, flowers and pictures in happy communion!
1. The Baby11. Dreams2. The Helpless12. Beautiful Views3. The Old13. The Sunshine4. Father and Mother14. Summer5. Grandmother15. Favorite Flowers6. Home16. Birds7. Playmates17. My Dog8. Memories18. The Garden9. Holidays19. Snow10. Ambitions20. Sunrise
1. The Baby11. Dreams2. The Helpless12. Beautiful Views3. The Old13. The Sunshine4. Father and Mother14. Summer5. Grandmother15. Favorite Flowers6. Home16. Birds7. Playmates17. My Dog8. Memories18. The Garden9. Holidays19. Snow10. Ambitions20. Sunrise