Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/27



HE Japanese drama is of four classes: the nō (yōkyoku) or lyrical drama, the kyōgen or farce, the kyaku-hon or pure drama, and the jōruri or epical drama.

The nō dramas are short lyrical stories founded for the most part on the folklore of Japan, China, and other Oriental countries. They are written in exceedingly beautiful language, and are full of quotations from ancient saws and songs. They bear a curious resemblance to the old Greek drama in that they are entirely chanted, in that many of the characters use masks, and in that a chorus takes up the action where the dialogue leaves off. But they are too simple and primitive in plot, and too deficient in lucidity and coherence to have much value as dramas. These