Three Waka Poems

Jōben Japanese

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 223

This work is a waka kaishi or “poetry sheet,” which records compositions from a poetry gathering. The three featured texts were written and inscribed by Jōben, a monk in the Tendai sect. Jōben was deemed one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Court Poetry (Waka shitennō) during his lifetime and went on to be celebrated for centuries. The last text on the sheet, titled “Praying for Love,” is a love poem:

あうまでと　いのるこゝろ　しるしありて
いつかは人を　三輪の神すぎ

It serves as a marker
that in my heart
I was praying for
the moment we might meet—
the cedar of Miwa Shrine.

Three Waka Poems, Jōben (Japanese, died 1356), Poetry sheet (waka kaishi) mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan

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Three Waka Poems, Jōben (Japanese, died 1356), Poetry sheet (waka kaishi) mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Three Waka Poems, Jōben (Japanese, died 1356), Poetry sheet (waka kaishi) mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan

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