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- Kokin Wakashu
Aware chō koto o amata ni yaraji to ya
haru ni okurete hitori sakuramu
Perhaps it wished not to share the many words of admiration, and so, lingering after spring has passed, it blooms alone.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Toshisada
Satsuki matsu yamahototogisu uchihabuki
ima mo nakanamu kozo no furugoe
O mountain cuckoo, waiting for the Fifth Month—beat your wings and even now, I wish you would sing in that same voice as last year.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Satsuki koba naki mo furinamu hototogisu
madashiki hodo no koe o kikaba ya
When the Fifth Month comes, your song will no longer be rare, O cuckoo—so before that time, I long to hear your fresh, early voice.
Kokin Wakashu - Ise
Satsuki matsu hanatachibana no ka o kageba
mukashi no hito no sode no ka zo suru
When I breathe in the scent of the orange blossoms that bloom in the Fifth Month, it recalls the fragrance of the sleeves of one from long ago.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Itsu no ma ni satsuki kinuramu ashibiki no
yamahototogisu ima zo naku naru
Before I knew it, has the Fifth Month come? The cuckoo in the mountains has now begun to cry.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kesa kinaki imada tabi naru hototogisu
hanatachibana ni yado wa karanamu
Having just begun to cry this very morning and still on its journey, O cuckoo, I wish you would take lodging in the orange blossoms at my home.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Otowayama kesa koekureba hototogisu
kozue haruka ni ima zo naku naru
Crossing Mount Otowa this very morning, I hear the cuckoo now crying from far-off treetops.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Hototogisu hatsukoe kikeba ajikinaku
nushi sadamaranu koi seraru hata
When I hear the cuckoo’s first cry, though it cannot be helped, I find myself longing for someone, though no one is yet mine.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Isonokami furuki miyako no hototogisu
koe bakari koso mukashi narikere
In Isonokami, the old capital, only the voice of the cuckoo remains as it was in the past.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Natsuyama ni naku hototogisu kokoro araba
mono omou ware ni koe na kikase so
O cuckoo crying in the summer mountains, if you have a heart, do not let your voice reach me, for I am lost in sorrowful thoughts.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hototogisu naku koe kikeba wakarenishi
furusato sae zo koishikarikeru
When I hear the cry of the cuckoo, even the home I left behind comes back to me, and I long for it.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hototogisu na ga naku sato no amata areba
nao utomashiku omou mono kara
O cuckoo, you cry in so many places that, though I am drawn to you, I cannot help but find you tiresome.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Omoiizuru Tokiwa no yama no hototogisu
karakurenai no furiidete zo naku
When I recall the past, the cuckoo of Mount Tokiwa cries out, as though pouring forth deep crimson.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Koe wa shite namida wa mienu hototogisu
waga koromode no hizu o karanamu
I hear your voice but cannot see your tears, O cuckoo; then take my sleeves, soaked through with tears.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ashibiki no yamahototogisu orihaete
tare ka masaru to ne o nomi zo naku
The cuckoos coming from the mountains keep crying, as though calling out, ‘who among us is the best?’
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Imasara ni yama e kaeru na hototogisu
koe no kagiri wa waga yado ni nake
Now that you have come, do not return to the mountains, O cuckoo; as long as your voice lasts, cry here at my home.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet