Traditionally attributed to Nijō Tameyo | Poems about Cherry Blossoms, one of the “Murasame Fragments” (Murasame-gire) | Japan | Kamakura period (1185–1333)

伝二条為世筆　『古今和歌集』　村雨切

Title: Poems about Cherry Blossoms, one of the “Murasame Fragments” (Murasame-gire)

Artist: Traditionally attributed to Nijō Tameyo (Japanese, 1250–1338)

Period: Kamakura period (1185–1333)

Date: early 14th century

Culture: Japan

Medium: Page from a booklet mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on dyed paper

Dimensions: Image: 10 × 6 5/8 in. (25.4 × 16.8 cm)
Overall with mounting: 64 9/16 × 13 7/8 in. (164 × 35.2 cm)
Overall with knobs: 64 9/16 × 15 3/4 in. (164 × 40 cm)

Classification: Calligraphy

Credit Line: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2020

Object Number: 2020.396.4

Inscription: [Poem 42]
[詞書]　はつせにまうつることにやとりける人の家にひさしくやとらて、ほとへてのちにいたれりけれは、かの家のあるしかくさたかになむやとりはあるといひいたして侍[り]けれは、そこにたてりける[むめの]花ををりてよめる
つらゆき
ひとはいさ　心もしらす　ふるさとは　花そ昔の　かにゝほひける

Hatsuse ni mōtsuru koto ni yadorikeru hito no ie ni hisashiku yadorade, hodo hete nochi ni itareikereba, ka no ie no aruji ga kusataka ni namu yadori wa aru to iitashite haberi kereba, soko ni taterikeru [ume no] hana o orite yomeru
Tsurayuki

Hito wa isa
kokoro mo shirazu
furusato wa
hana zo mukashi no
ka ni nioikeru

[Headnote] While on a pilgrimage to Hatsuse, after a long time of not visiting, he sought lodgings at the inn where he had usually spent the night. The owner of the inn told him, “As you can see, there is a suitable place to stay this evening.” He broke off a branch of the flowering tree and composed the following:

As for people, I can’t plumb
what’s in their hearts,
but when in a familiar place
the blossoms allow me to enjoy
the fragrance of the fond past.

[Poem 43]
[詞書]　水のほとりに梅花さけりけるをよめる
伊勢
春ことに　なかるゝ河を　はなと見て　をられぬ水に　袖やぬれなむ

Mizu no hotori ni ume no hana sakerikeru o yomeru

[Headnote] Composed on plum trees in bloom near a stream
[Lady] Ise

Haru goto ni
nagaruru kawa o
hana to mite
orarenu mizu ni
sode ya nurenamu

And as in every spring,
when in the flowing stream
I see reflections of blossoms,
will I again drench my sleeves
while trying to pluck the water?

[Poem 44]
年をへて　はなのかゝみと　なる水はちりかゝるをや　くもるといふらむ

Toshi o hete
hana no kagami to
naru mizu wa
chiri kakaru o ya
kumoru to iuramu

[Headnote same as for poem 43, and same poet, Lady Ise]

As the year progresses,
and as the stream that was seen
as a mirror of plum blossoms,
do we now call it “clouded over”
when covered with scattered blossoms?

[Poem 45]
[詞書]　家にありける梅花のちりけるをよめる
Ie ni arikeru ume no hana no chirikeru o yomeru

[Headnote to poem 45, which would have been on next page]
Composed on seeing blossoms on a plum tree near his house scatter:

(Translations by John T. Carpenter)

Authentication slip from Kohitsu Ryōshin XIII 十三代古筆了信 (1831–1894)

Marking: Authentication slip from Kohitsu Ryōshin XIII 十三代古筆了信 (1831–1894)

Box inscription: (brushed on outer lid) Murasame-gire/ hito wa isa 村雨切　ひとはいさ (Murasame Fragment/ “As for people…’ [the opening line of the first poem proper]; (inner lid) 傳ニ條為世卿筆 (Den Nijō Tameyo kyōhitsu/ [吉澤]義則 (Attributed to Nijō Tameyo, [box inscription by Yoshizawa] Yoshinori [1876–1954, specialist in Japanese classical literature]

Kami Kensuke , until July 11, 2017; sold to Cowles]; Mary and Cheney Cowles , Seattle, WA, 2017–20; donated to MMA

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japan: A History of Style," March 8, 2021–April 24, 2022.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Three Perfections: Japanese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection," August 10, 2024–August 3, 2025.

Kohitsugaku taisei 古筆学大成 (Compendium of ancient calligraphic works) Vol. 5, no. 210, Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1989, pp. 392–93, plates 230–45.