Japanese Hokkus #223890

Aims at is, like the haori Of' silk or crepe, a use fulness of uselessness, not what it expresses but how it expresses itself spiritually; its real value is not in its physical directness but in its psycho logical indirectness. TO use a simile, it is like a dew upon lotus leaves Of green, or under maple leaves Of red, which although it is nothing but a trifling drop Of water, shines, glitters and sparkles now pearl-white, then amethyst-blue, again ruby-red according to the time Of day and situation; better still to say, this Hokku is like a spider-thread laden with the white summer dews, swaying among the branches of a tree like an Often invisible ghost in air, on the perfect balance; that sway indeed, not the thread itself, is the beauty of our seventeen syllable poem.