Myriad Birds:A Playful Poetry Contest (Momo chidori kyōka-awase), 2 vols.
Each of the double-page illustrations of this book depicts two avian species accompanied by a pair of playful love poems written in the “voice” of the respective bird. The poems are kyōka (literally, “mad verse”), or playful light verse written in five lines of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables respectively.
Japanese Grosbeak (Mamemawashi, “Bean-turner”) Shinobu no ni
irazaru kuchi no
mamemawashi
tsui saezurite
na ya morasuramu
My love affair is secret,
but the “bean-turner” bird,
with its big mouth,
no doubt spilled the beans
and squealed her name.
—Akera Kankō ; trans. John T. Carpenter
Woodpecker (Kitsutsuki)
Na ni tachite
koi ni ya kuchin
kitsutsuki no
tsuki-kudakaruru
hito no kuchibashi
As rumors spread
saying that my romance
has rotted away,
I'll be a woodpecker pecking
to pieces their tittle-tattle.
—Shinono Tamawaku; trans. John T. Carpenter
Duck (Kamo)
Tsukebumi no
tsukaimono ni wa
chi o hashiru
koi no yakko mo
kamo no torimochi
As he waits for his love letter
to be sped in its delivery
across land by a duck,
he remains a slave to love,
as though trapped in birdlime.
—Hōnen no Yukimaru; trans. John T. Carpenter
Kingfisher (Kawasemi)
Kimi to waga
nochi no yo kakete
hasu no ha ni
ii-kawasemi no
hane o naraben
Let us exchange vows
that you and I will be reborn
on the same lotus leaf,
and we’ll be forever close,
as joined wings of kingfishers.
—Sandara Hōshi; trans. John T. Carpenter
Japanese Grosbeak (Mamemawashi, “Bean-turner”) Shinobu no ni
irazaru kuchi no
mamemawashi
tsui saezurite
na ya morasuramu
My love affair is secret,
but the “bean-turner” bird,
with its big mouth,
no doubt spilled the beans
and squealed her name.
—Akera Kankō ; trans. John T. Carpenter
Woodpecker (Kitsutsuki)
Na ni tachite
koi ni ya kuchin
kitsutsuki no
tsuki-kudakaruru
hito no kuchibashi
As rumors spread
saying that my romance
has rotted away,
I'll be a woodpecker pecking
to pieces their tittle-tattle.
—Shinono Tamawaku; trans. John T. Carpenter
Duck (Kamo)
Tsukebumi no
tsukaimono ni wa
chi o hashiru
koi no yakko mo
kamo no torimochi
As he waits for his love letter
to be sped in its delivery
across land by a duck,
he remains a slave to love,
as though trapped in birdlime.
—Hōnen no Yukimaru; trans. John T. Carpenter
Kingfisher (Kawasemi)
Kimi to waga
nochi no yo kakete
hasu no ha ni
ii-kawasemi no
hane o naraben
Let us exchange vows
that you and I will be reborn
on the same lotus leaf,
and we’ll be forever close,
as joined wings of kingfishers.
—Sandara Hōshi; trans. John T. Carpenter
Artwork Details
- 喜多川歌麿画 『百千鳥狂歌合』
- Title: Myriad Birds:A Playful Poetry Contest (Momo chidori kyōka-awase), 2 vols.
- Artist: Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese, ca. 1754–1806)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: 1790
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Two volumes; woodblock printed books; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Each: 10 × 7 1/2 × 1/4 in. (25.4 × 19.1 × 0.6 cm)
- Classification: Illustrated Books
- Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
- Object Number: JIB77a, b
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Kitagawa Utamaro
1791
Kitagawa Utamaro
1798
Kitagawa Utamaro
1790
Kitagawa Utamaro
1806–20
Kitagawa Utamaro
ca. 1794–95
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