Sympathy

Suzuki Harunobu Japanese

Not on view

An empress standing on the palace veranda watches peasants harvesting rice while a girl seated nearby plays with a black dog. Above is a famous ode attributed to the seventh-century emperor Tenji, the first in the collection known as the "Hyakunin Isshu" ("One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets"):

Aki no ta no kriho no io no toma o arami
Waga koromode wa tsuyu
ni nure tsutsu.

The thatch is ragged in the hut
where I watch the autumn rice fields.
Dew has drenched my sleeves.

Sympathy, Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725–1770), Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan

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