鈴木春信画　見立三夕　「西行法師」|A Young Man and Woman with a Shamisen; Monk Saigyō, from a series alluding to the Three Evening Poems (Sanseki waka)

Suzuki Harunobu

ca. 1768 · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper · Asian Art

The landscape beyond the railing of a veranda depicts the scene described in the accompanying poem. Two young people appear distracted and isolated from each other—the man holding what appears to be a love letter and the seated woman holding a samisen, a three-stringed instrument associated with the pleasure quarters. Inscribed in the cartouche at the upper corner is a famous waka (thirty-one-syllable court poem) by the medieval monk-poet Saigyō (1118–1190) that reads: Kokoro naki mi ni mo aware wa shirarekeri shigi tatsu sawa no aki no yūgure Even those who hide feelings will sense the melancholy— of a snipe taking flight over a marsh on an autumn evening. —Trans. John T. Carpenter

Artist

Suzuki Harunobu

Date

ca. 1768

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Henry L. Phillips Collection, Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939