book is very full. Therefore, I think we may say that this
is much the best work he has done, for, however closely he
may have followed his originals--and of that most of us have
no means of judging--there is certainly a good deal of Mr.
Pound in this little volume.

"Cathay" and "Lustra" were followed by the translations of Noh
plays. The Noh are not so important as the Chinese poems
(certainly not so important for English); the attitude is less
unusual to us; the work is not so solid, so firm. "Cathay" will,
I believe, rank with the "Sea-Farer" in the future among Mr.
Pound's original work; the Noh will rank among his translations.
It is rather a dessert after "Cathay." There are, however,
passages which, as Pound has handled them, are different both
from the Chinese and from anything existent in English. There
is, for example, the fine speech of the old Kagekiyo, as he
thinks of his youthful valour:

He thought, how easy this killing. He rushed with his
spearshaft gripped under his arm. He cried out, "I am
Kagekiyo of the Heike." He rushed on to take them. He
pierced through the helmet vizards of Miyanoya. Miyanoya
fled twice, and again; and Kagekiyo cried: "You shall not
escape me!" He leaped and wrenched off his helmet. "Eya!"
The vizard broke and remained in his hand, and Miyanoya
still fled afar, and afar, and he looked back crying in
terror, "How terrible, how heavy your arm!" And Kagekiyo
called at him, "How tough the shaft of your neck is!" And
they both laughed out over the battle, and went off each his
own way.