C44 PREFACE. $1533 IN bringing before the public a subject which, if remote, has at least the merit of novelty, it is the translator's pleasant duty to acknowledge the assistance which has done much to smooth for him the difficulties of an almost untrodden path. From European sources, indeed, little or no help has been derived. But to a native man of letters, Suzuki Tsunemasa, thanks are due for continued aid and counsel during the preparation of the present versions, while the necessary preliminary studies would never have been successfully carried through but for the kind encouragement of the aged poetess Tachibana-noToseko. Writing at a distance, from England, and unable personally to supervise the correction of the proofs, the translator must beg the indulgence of Orientalists if any errors should have crept into the spelling of Japanese words. A few of the "Short Odes" and three or four of the longer pieces have already appeared in the pages either of the "Cornhill Magazine" or of the "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan," and to the President and Council of this Society and to the Editor of that Magazine |