In Isonokami,
the ancient capital’s call
of the cuckoo—
its voice alone remains
just as it was long ago.
- Meaning
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In Isonokami, the old capital, only the voice of the cuckoo remains as it was in the past.
- Commentary
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Book III, Summer Poems
Composed upon hearing the cuckoo at Isonokami Temple in Nara.
Though the former capital of Nara has changed and fallen into decline, only the cuckoo’s voice remains as it was in former times.
The poem is composed in a nostalgic tone, reflecting on the past from a later age.
- Author
-
Sosei Hoshi
- Source
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Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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Crossing Mount Otowa
this very morning,
the cuckoo now cries,
from treetops far away,
its voice drifting to me.
-
When first I hear it,
the cuckoo’s earliest cry,
helplessly I feel,
a longing for someone—
though no one is yet mine.
-
In summer mountains,
the cuckoo that cries aloud—
if it has a heart,
let it not let its voice
reach me, lost in thought.
-
When I hear the cry
of the cuckoo calling,
I am drawn to think
of the home I left behind,
and long for it again.