anecdote of a rustic samurai illustrates a case in point. When he was
told to learn versification, and "The Warbler's Notes"[10] was given him
for the subject of his first attempt, his fiery spirit rebelled and he
_flung_ at the feet of his master this uncouth production, which ran

[Footnote 10: The uguisu or warbler, sometimes called the nightingale of
Japan.]

"The brave warrior keeps apart
The ear that might listen
To the warbler's song."

His master, undaunted by the crude sentiment, continued to encourage the
youth, until one day the music of his soul was awakened to respond to
the sweet notes of the _uguisu_, and he wrote

"Stands the warrior, mailed and strong,
To hear the uguisu's song,
Warbled sweet the trees among."

We admire and enjoy the heroic incident in Körner's short life, when, as
he lay wounded on the battle-field, he scribbled his famous "Farewell to
Life." Incidents of a similar kind were not at all unusual in our
warfare. Our pithy, epigrammatic poems were particularly well suited to
the improvisation of a single sentiment. Everybody of any education was
either a poet or a poetaster. Not infrequently a marching soldier might
be seen to halt, take his writing utensils from his belt, and compose an
ode,--and such papers were found afterward in the helmets or the
breast-plates, when these were removed from their lifeless wearers.