This page needs to be proofread.
— 306 —
Suzushii to
Omoeba suzushi
Semi no koe.—Ginkō.
If we think it is cool, the voice of the semi is cool {that is, the fancy changes the feeling).
In view of the many complaints of Japanese poets about the noisiness of semi, the reader may be surprised to learn that out of semi-skins there used to be made in both China and Japan—perhaps upon homoeopathic principles—a medicine for the cure of ear-ache!
One poem, nevertheless, proves that semi-music has its admirers:—
O moshiroi zo ya,
Waga-ko no koe wa
Takai mori-ki no
Semi no koe!
Sweet to the ear is the voice of one's own child as the voice of a semi perched on a tall forest tree.
But such admiration is rare. More frequently the semi is represented as crying for its nightly repast of dew:—
註
