A Bluebird and Poppies
Utagawa Hiroshige Japanese
Not on view
The anonymous poet sensitively observes that the thin, fragile petals of poppy flowers might be scattered by the flapping of a bird’s wing.
鳥飛て あふなき芥子の 一重かな
Tori tonde (tobite)
abunaki keshi no
hitoe kana
A bird flying by—
poses danger to poppies
with single layers of petals.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter
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