SOURCE: Dixon, J. M. “Chômei and Wordsworth: A Literary Parallel.” Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan 20 (1893): 193-204.

In the following essay, originally delivered as a lecture in 1892, Dixon compares and contrasts Chōmei's poetry to that of William Wordsworth.

There are few countries upon which nature has lavished so much beauty as Japan, and her inhabitants have not shown themselves heedless of their privileges. In the domain of art the beauties of nature have been reproduced by Japanese artists in a way that has delighted the world, and effected a revolution in Western ideas of what constitutes beauty in ornament. In the domain of literature the Japanese have shown less power and originality. If the inhabitants of Europe have been fettered by conventionality in expression, this has been still more the case in Japan. It may be said with truth that except in a small department...