On the Cuckoo's Call
Signed verso acrylic on weathered plywood (driftwood) from the Conwy estuary.
The words are another translation from the Manyoshu anthology, the earliest and greatest Japanese anthologies, originally compiled in the eighth century.
The poem from which they are taken is by the original anthologist Otomo Yakamochi (718-785 C.E), lamenting his enforced departure from his friend and kinsman Otomo Ikenushi. In Japanese myth and literature the cuckoo symbolises mourning, longing and melancholy, whereas in English folksong 'The cuckoo she's a pretty bird, she sings as she flies, she brings us good tidings...' The idea of using this quotation came from the line of seven nail-holes near the edge of the plywood, which suggested the beads, 'strung on the cockoo's call'.
Original: $1,911.73
-65%$1,911.73
$669.11Product Information
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Description
Signed verso acrylic on weathered plywood (driftwood) from the Conwy estuary.
The words are another translation from the Manyoshu anthology, the earliest and greatest Japanese anthologies, originally compiled in the eighth century.
The poem from which they are taken is by the original anthologist Otomo Yakamochi (718-785 C.E), lamenting his enforced departure from his friend and kinsman Otomo Ikenushi. In Japanese myth and literature the cuckoo symbolises mourning, longing and melancholy, whereas in English folksong 'The cuckoo she's a pretty bird, she sings as she flies, she brings us good tidings...' The idea of using this quotation came from the line of seven nail-holes near the edge of the plywood, which suggested the beads, 'strung on the cockoo's call'.
