Woman About to Write a Poem

The figure of a sumptuously attired woman takes up almost the entire composition of this print. She wears a layered kimono, the outer robe of which has a lavish design of plums, a winding stream, and Chinese characters. She is an educated woman as evidenced by the books piled on the lacquer cabinet behind her. She looks at a blank sheet of decorated paper, brush in hand, ready to compose a poem. Above her, the poems speak of the art of poetry as practiced by animals, whereby the animals represent the efforts of amateur poets. One of the poems reads:

Even the sound
Of the song
Bellowed by a frog
Who lives in a well
Is somehow transformed
[when inscribed on a poem card.]
(Translated by John Carpenter)