The Morning-Glory. 37 



The asagao is said to have been brought from China 

 into Japan by scholars and priests who went over there to 

 study Buddhism. And a Chinese priest who came to 

 Japan wrote a poem to the following purport : "The asagao 

 blooms and fades so quickly, only to prepare for to-mor- 

 row's glory." It is quite likely this connection with religion 

 as well as the fact that it fades so quickly that makes the 

 asagao unsuitable for use on felicitous occasions. 



Miss Scidmore states that "the late Empress-Dowager, 

 a conservator of many old customs and aristocratic tradi- 

 tions, and a gentle soul with a deep love of flowers, poetry, 

 and art, kept up the culture of the asagao, and had always 

 a fine display of flowers at her city and summer palaces 

 during the lotus-time of the year." But in Tokyo the finest 

 morning-glory gardens are at a place called Iriya, beyond 

 Uyeno Park; there wonderful varieties, too numerous to 

 mention, are exhibited. Of the different colors, dark blue 

 takes the first rank. 



Two well-known poems about the morning-glory run 

 as follows: 



"Every morn, when the dawn brightens into joy 

 The morning-glory renews its beautiful flowers, 

 And continues blooming long in this way, 

 To give us hope and peace that wither not." 1 



"Oh, for the heart 

 Of the morning-glory! 

 Which, though its bloom is for a single hour, 

 Is the same as that of the fir-tree, 

 Which lives a thousand years." 2 

 1 See the Century Magazine for December, 1897. 



"This literal version has been versified as follows by Dr. Paul Carus: 

 "Oh for the heart's deep story, 

 The heart's of the morning-glory ! 

 Whose dainty flower 

 Blooms but an hour 

 Yet the charm that's hers 

 Is more endearing 

 Than the grandeur of firs 

 For a thousand years persevering." 



