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viii in the cherry blossoms which are doomed to fall, the dewdrops scattered by the wind, the mournful cry of the wild deer on the mountains, the dying crimson of the fallen maple leaves, the weird sadness of the cuckoo singing in the moonlight, and the loneliness of the recluse in the mountain wilds; while those verses which appear to be of a more cheerful type are rather of the nature of the ‘Japanese smile’, described by Lafcadio Hearn as a mask to hide the real feelings.

Some explanation is necessary as to the names of the writers of the different verses. The Japanese custom is to place the family or clan name first, followed by the preposition no (of), and then the rest of the name; but, as this would be appreciated only by those who are familiar with the language, the names have been transposed, and the titles and ranks translated, as far as possible, into English. At the same time the full name and title have also been given on the left hand page in their Japanese form; for many of these names, such as Yamabe no Akahito, Abe no Nakamaro, Ono no Komachi, are so well known to Japanese students that they would hardly be recognized in their transposed form.

A word may be added as to pronunciation, for the benefit of those who are not familiar with Japanese;