Thursday, April 10, 2008

JAPANESQUE

Oh, where the white quince blossom swings
     I love to take my Japan ease!
I love the maid Anise who clings
     So lightly to my Japan knees;
I love the little song she sings,
     The little love-song Japanese.
I almost love the lute’s tink-tunkle
     Played by that charming Jap Anise -
For am I not her old Jap uncle?
     And is she not my Japan niece?

- Oliver Herford

Politically incorrect owing to its age, I always liked the wordplay in this poem. It’s from Oliver Herford’s The Bashful Earthquake and Other Fables and Verses, copyright 1898.

One more day, and I’ll be off on the Troublemakers’ Tour of Tokyo (and Points South-West). Hoo-hah!

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