A Young Man and Woman with a Shamisen; Monk Saigyō, from a series alluding to the Three Evening Poems (Sanseki waka)

A Young Man and Woman with a Shamisen; Monk Saigyō, from a series alluding to the Three Evening Poems (Sanseki waka)

Suzuki Harunobu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The landscape beyond the railing of a veranda depicts the scene described in the accompanying poem. Two young people appear distracted and isolated from each other—the man holding what appears to be a love letter and the seated woman holding a samisen, a three-stringed instrument associated with the pleasure quarters. Inscribed in the cartouche at the upper corner is a famous waka (thirty-one-syllable court poem) by the medieval monk-poet Saigyō (1118–1190) that reads: Kokoro naki mi ni mo aware wa shirarekeri shigi tatsu sawa no aki no yūgure Even those who hide feelings will sense the melancholy— of a snipe taking flight over a marsh on an autumn evening. —Trans. John T. Carpenter

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Young Man and Woman with a Shamisen; Monk Saigyō, from a series alluding to the Three Evening Poems (Sanseki waka)A Young Man and Woman with a Shamisen; Monk Saigyō, from a series alluding to the Three Evening Poems (Sanseki waka)A Young Man and Woman with a Shamisen; Monk Saigyō, from a series alluding to the Three Evening Poems (Sanseki waka)A Young Man and Woman with a Shamisen; Monk Saigyō, from a series alluding to the Three Evening Poems (Sanseki waka)A Young Man and Woman with a Shamisen; Monk Saigyō, from a series alluding to the Three Evening Poems (Sanseki waka)

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.