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The Dream of a Summer Day

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"The Dream of a Summer Day" is an essay by Lafcadio Hearn that reminisced on his childhood, and which also incorporated a retelling of the Japanese folktale of Urashima Tarō. It was the first piece in the collection Out of the East (1895).

Essay

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"The Dream of a Summer Day" was first printed in the 28 July 1894 issue of The Japan Weekly Mail, and republished in the collection Out of the East (1895).[1][2]

Urashima and Irish legend

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Commentators have noted a parallel between the underlying Japanese fairy tale of Urashima Tarō and the Irish legend around Oisín and the fairy princess of the sea,[a][4] and Hearn might have recalled this legend in writing the piece, even though he does not explicitly state this.[5]

Hearn himself considered the Urashima to be similar to Washington Irving's "The Adelantado of the Seven Cities" which deals with a search for St. Brendan's fabled isle, more so than to "Rip van Winkle".[6]

Hearn's biographer Paul Murray has identified it as an "enchanted memory" of his beloved aunt, Catherine Frances Elwood, the elder sister of his Irish father,[7] even though other commentators have assumed it was about his parting with his Greek mother, née Rosa Antonia Cassimati.[b][10][11]

Hearn and the Manyo poem of Urashima

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Although most commentators stress Hearn's identification with the Urashima figure, Hearn may have also empathized with the ancient poet of the Man'yōshū who recounted the even older legend of Urashima.[12] For Hearn's essay begins in the same way: he starts by describing the scenery of Misumi, Kumamoto where he was then staying, and drifts into the tale of Urashima; likewise, the ancient poet opens by describing the scenery of Suminoe (Suminoe-ku, Osaka), then launches into his musings about the Urashima legend.[13][14] Hearn's Misumi was not anywhere near the spot of the legend, however, he happened to be staying at an inn named "Urashima-ya".[15] The identity of the ancient poet was unknown to Hearn, but scholars have determined the author of this poem have been Takahashi no Mushimaro.[16]

Explanatory notes

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  1. ^ And the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū in Japanese) parallels the Irish legendary Land of Youth (Tír na nÓg).[3]
  2. ^ Rosa Antonia Cassimati on authority of Murray.[8] Kawamura's paper refers to her as "Rosa Cerigote".[9]

References

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Citations
  1. ^ Hearn (1895), pp. 1–27 (in: Out of the East: Reveries and Studies in New Japan)
  2. ^ Hearn, Lafcadio (28 July 1894). "The Dream of a Summer Day". The Japan Weekly Mail.
  3. ^ Murray (1993), p. 167
  4. ^ Murray (1995)(=Murray (1998), p. 250) cite in Williamson & Sameshima (2012), p. 86
  5. ^ Williamson & Sameshima (2012), p. 86
  6. ^ Satomi (2001), pp. 103–105.
  7. ^ Murray (1993), pp. 167, 244
  8. ^ Murray (1993), p. 211
  9. ^ Kawamura (1934), p. 13
  10. ^ Kawamura (1934), p. 11
  11. ^ Williamson & Sameshima (2012), p. 86 and Williamson (2015), p. 16
  12. ^ Makino (2011), pp. 126–125.
  13. ^ Makino (2011), pp. 127–126.
  14. ^ Chamberlain, Basil Hall (1887), A The Language, Mythology, and Geographical Nomenclature of Japan, Imperial University, pp. 20–22
  15. ^ Hagiwara (1995), p. 375.
  16. ^ Makino (2011), p. 125.
Bibliography