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.
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