Plants of the Four Seasons

Artist Hisamichi (?) (Japanese)

Datecommissioned for a New Year, ca. 1810s

MediumColor woodblock print

Dimensions7 7/8 × 7 1/16 inches (20 × 17.9 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift of Joanna Haab Schoff, Class of 1955

Terms

Surimono
Color woodblock print
Poetry
Plants
Seasons
Flowers
Japanese

Object number2011.017.021

Label CopyHarukaze ni The spring wind Eda wo tawamete Bends the branches Hana no iro no Gathering the gold Kogane matomeshi Of the color of its flowers Noki no rengyo ¯ The forsythia under the eaves —Omoshirotei Hisamichi One of the common poetic tropes of early kyo¯ka was to shadow the natural world with worldly economic interests, parodying the idealism of classical verse, written by aristocrats who allowed no place in poetry for petty financial concerns. In this idyllic spring scene, the “weighted” word gold suggests a return to worldly economic thoughts, as the poet implicitly compares the value of the natural scene to the social evaluation of this precious metal. At the level of nature, the branches are swayed by the spring breezes, which allow the forsythia to catch the light of the sunrise and turn gold, matomeshi suggesting “completion” or “fulfillment.” But at the social level, conveyed in the translation here, these winds are personified, actively bending the gold-heavy branches to collect their riches. Forsythia, moreover, is written with characters meaning “continuous sunrise,” thus allowing the last lines to read “collect gold in the morning’s endless sunrise.” The pigments of the forsythia in the image, now oxidized, must once have been a rich golden color. Although the verse mentions spring, the combination in the image seems to cover many seasons, with faint purple violets, two prominent, embossed irises, one in full bloom, a branch of maple, fallen leaves, and budding and blooming camellias, representing the movement of the seasons in the order listed.

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