Swallows and Budding Wild Cherry

Swallows and Budding Wild Cherry

Utagawa Hiroshige

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The poem is unsigned, as is often the case with poems on Hiroshige’s bird-and-flower prints, but the verse is known to be by Takarai Kikaku (Enomoto Kikaku, 1661–1707), a professional poet who numbered among the top disciples of Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694). Swallows (tsubame) are common subjects in haikai set in spring, as in this example: 山の端に　乙鳥をかへす　入日かな　宝井其角 Yama no ha ni tsubame o kaesu irihi kana The setting sun— over the mountain ridge sends the swallows home. —Trans. John T. Carpenter

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Swallows and Budding Wild CherrySwallows and Budding Wild CherrySwallows and Budding Wild CherrySwallows and Budding Wild CherrySwallows and Budding Wild Cherry

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.