A Poem of Lament, one of the “Uzura Fragments” (Uzura-gire)

Traditionally attributed to Fujiwara Akisuke Japanese
13th century
Not on view
With eye-catching variations in ink density and elongated vertical strokes that indicate a rapidly moving yet controlled brush, this transcription from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū) displays the shift toward expressive and experimental calligraphy that occurred by the thirteenth century.

The poem, by the courtier-poet Ki no Mochiyuki, reads:

花よりも 人こそあたに なりにけれ
いづ[れ]をさきに こひむとかみし

Even more so than cherry blossoms,
a loved one’s life is transient.
Alas, never did I expect
to muse over which of them
I would have to mourn first.

—Trans. John T. Carpenter

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 伝藤原顕輔筆 『古今和歌集巻』 鶉切
  • Title: A Poem of Lament, one of the “Uzura Fragments” (Uzura-gire)
  • Artist: Traditionally attributed to Fujiwara Akisuke (Japanese, 1090–1155)
  • Period: Kamakura period (1185–1333)
  • Date: 13th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Section of a page from a bound booklet mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper patterned with mica powder
  • Dimensions: Image: 9 7/16 × 2 5/8 in. (24 × 6.7 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 48 3/4 × 11 3/8 in. (123.8 × 28.9 cm)
    Overall with knobs: 48 3/4 × 13 1/4 in. (123.8 × 33.7 cm)
  • Classification: Calligraphy
  • Credit Line: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2023
  • Object Number: 2023.583.2
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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