Suzuki Harunobu (1725?-1770)

Allusive picture (mitate-e) to a poem by Gotokudaiji no Sadaijin (Fujiwara no Sanesada) represented by a scene of a woman enjoying the moon from a veranda. The poem by Fujiwara no Sanesada (1139-1191) has been translated by Joshua Mostow in his Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin isshu in Word and Image (University of Hawaii Press, 1996):
hototogisu The hototogisu:
nakitsuru kata o when I gaze out towards where
nagamureba he was singing,
tada ariake no all that remains is the moon,
tsuki zo nokoreru pale in the morning sky.