あしびきの山郭公をりはへて
たれかまさるとねをのみぞなく
たれかまさるとねをのみぞなく
- Roma-ji
-
Ashibiki no yamahototogisu orihaete
tare ka masaru to ne o nomi zo naku - English Translation
-
From mountain depths,
the cuckoos come and cry,
one after another—
as though asking aloud,
who among them surpasses all.
- Meaning
- The cuckoos coming from the mountains keep crying, as though calling out, ‘who among us is the best?’
- Commentary
-
Book III, Summer Poems
The cuckoos are depicted as crying one after another, as if competing with one another.
If the particle “ka” in “tare ka masaru” is taken rhetorically, it can imply that none surpasses oneself.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Koe wa shite namida wa mienu hototogisu
waga koromode no hizu o karanamu - Next Poem
-
Imasara ni yama e kaeru na hototogisu
koe no kagiri wa waga yado ni nake