1004.] ADDRESS. 47 



j)i'('li('ii(l, as aw the niai-vcls of tlicir spokcii ttuiguo. In the 

 first place, in I he use of flowers, as in the i)lanjiinni; of a pardon, 

 there must be propriety and htness. A liower out of season 

 is unnatural and hence olijectionable. Tlie hotlioiise foi' forced 

 culture is a thing by tlunn unknown and ujidesired. An 

 arrangement of flowers that would not occur in natui'e is in 

 poor taste; and an arrangement that doc^s not in some way 

 suggest the natural is equally inai)i)r()priate. Thus special 

 vases are often used for s{)ecial flowers, that l)y their form 

 and structure they may enhance the naturalness of the effect 

 and suggest an entire landscape to the imagination. Massing 

 is seldom allowed. A single spray is often more effective than 

 ' a crowded cluster; and its charm consists not so much in beauty 

 of blossom as in beauty of form, suggesting to the sympathetic 

 soul much that is hidden from our duller sense. A gnarled 

 and knotted tree trunk, bereft of branches, may for some 

 reason by them appreciated be a thing of beauty and of joy. 

 So the untrimmed limb of the forest may, in the costly vase 

 of the parlor, suggest a beauty and charm native to itself alone. 



None l)ut one trained in the art of Japanese flower-arrange- 

 ment should attempt to speak in detail; none but one moved 

 by the inherited philosophy of that Orient race should undertake 

 an interpretation of that which is with them a liberal art, the fit 

 employment of literati, embodying much of their esoteric faith. 



In painting arid in verse the language of flowers and trees 

 is an element of enrichment and beauty; and with the trans- 

 lation (by a professor of the Tokyo University), of a famous 

 Tanka, I will conclude my lecture, thanking you for your 

 gracious attention : 



Thou plum tree of common growth, 



Beneath thy spreading leaves 



The air of reverence breatlies still. 



Were't not for the noble exile 



Would thy leaves be regarded to-day? 



Oh, the sainted no more's to be seen, 



But the plum tree that once vi^as his pride. 



And in the words of another floral verse : — 



May thy fam;; flourish as the firs, 

 Prospering in the forest of everlasting green. 



