Quatrain on Late Spring

Quatrain on Late Spring

Emperor Lizong

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Song palace seal impressed on the left-hand side of this writing reads: "Treasure of imperial writing." In his poem, the emperor laments the coming of old age: How spring makes me sad! Timidly I bear the passing of spring. The young lady has no feeling for me, She treats my love merely as that of a waning spring. (Wen C. Fong, trans., in Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th-14th Century [New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992], p. 242.)

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.