Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki from the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets Explained by the Nurse

Curatorial Overview

“Katsushika Hokusai designed this print series from the perspective of a confused nurse attempting to illustrate classical poetry but missing the subtle allusions. This interpretation creates what would have been considered a comical disconnect between poem and image. The poem on this print reads as follows: In the mountain village,it is in winter that my lonelinessincreases most,when I think of how both have dried up,the grasses and people’s visits. —Translation by Joshua Mostow While nobleman Minamoto no Muneyuki (died 939) wrote of dying grasses, the nurse imagines instead a lively scene of hunters warming themselves around a fire.”