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- Shui Wakashu
Izukata ni nakite yukuramu hototogisu yodo no watari no mada yobukaki ni
Which way are you heading as you sing, cuckoo, while the night is still deep at the Yodo crossing?
Shui Wakashu - Mibu no Tadami
Shigeru koto makomo no ouru yodono ni wa tsuyu no yadori o hito zo karikeru
On the plain of Yodo, where wild rice grows thick, people cut the dewy reeds and borrow their shade as a night's lodging in the dew.
Shui Wakashu - Mibu no Tadami
Kanokata ni haya kogiyoseyo hototogisu michi ni nakitsu to hito ni kataran
Row us quickly to the other shore! I will tell people that the cuckoo sang along the way.
Shui Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Hototogisu ochikaeri nake unaiko ga uchitaregami no samidare no sora
Cuckoo, sing again and again, into the sky of early summer rain, falling in disarray like the loose hair of a little child.
Shui Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Nake ya nake takata no yama no hototogisu kono samidare ni koe na oshimi so
Sing, sing, cuckoo of Takata's hills, and in these early summer rains do not hold back your voice.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Samidare wa i koso nerarene hototogisu yobukaku nakamu koe o matsu tote
In the season of early summer rain I cannot sleep at all, for I am waiting for the cuckoo's voice that may sing deep in the night.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Utate hito omowamu mono o hototogisu yoru shimo nado ka waga yado ni naku
People will surely find it distressing, so why, cuckoo, must you sing at my house at night, of all times?
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hototogisu itaku na naki so hitori ite i no nerarenu ni kikeba kurushi mo
Cuckoo, please do not cry so much, for when I am alone and cannot sleep, hearing you only brings me pain.
Shui Wakashu - Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Natsu no yo no kokoro o shireru hototogisu haya mo nakanan ake mo koso sure
Cuckoo, you who know the nature of summer nights, sing quickly, for dawn may break before long.
Shui Wakashu - Nakatsukasa
Natsu no yo wa urashima no ko ga hako nare ya hakanaku akete kuyashikaruran
Is the summer night the box of Urashima? It opens into dawn so swiftly, leaving only regret, as when he opened his box.
Shui Wakashu - Nakatsukasa
Natsu kureba fukakusayama no hototogisu naku koe shigeku narimasaru nari
When summer comes, the voices of the cuckoos on Fukakusa's hills grow ever more frequent.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Satsukiyami kurahashiyama no hototogisu obotsukanaku mo nakiwataru kana
In the darkness of the Fifth Month, the cuckoo of Kurahashi's hill crosses over singing, its form uncertain in the gloom.
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Sanekata
Hototogisu naku ya satsuki no mijikayo mo hitori shi nureba akashikanetsu mo
Even the short nights of the Fifth Month, when the cuckoo sings, are hard to see through to dawn when I sleep alone.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hototogisu matsu ni tsukete ya tomoshi suru hito mo yamabe ni yo o akasuran
Do those who hunt by pine torchlight also spend the night on the hillsides, using the wait for the cuckoo as their excuse?
Shui Wakashu - Minamoto no Shitagō
Satsukiyama ko no shitayami ni tomosu hi wa shika no tachido no shirube narikeri
The fires lit in the darkness beneath the trees on the mountains of the Fifth Month turn out to be guides to where the deer are standing.
Shui Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Ayashiku mo shika no tachido no mienu kana ogura no yama ni ware ya kinuran
Strangely, I cannot see where the deer are standing. Have I come to Mount Ogura, whose very name means dim and dark?
Shui Wakashu - Taira no Kanemori