Wild Geese Flying under the Full Moon

Utagawa Hiroshige Japanese

Not on view

The full moon on the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the peak of autumn, has always been special to East Asian poets. Both the poem and image here capture the moment when wild geese are seen flying across the full moon:

こむな夜が 又も有うか　月に雁

Konna yo ga
mata mo arō ka
tsuki ni kari

Will there ever again
be such a marvelous night!
Wild geese against the moon.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter

Wild Geese Flying under the Full Moon, Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1797–1858 Tokyo (Edo)), Woodblock print, Japan

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