五月雨に物思ひをれば郭公
夜ふかくなきていづちゆくなむ
夜ふかくなきていづちゆくなむ
- Roma-ji
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Samidare ni mono omoi oreba hototogisu
yo fukaku nakite izuchi yukunamu - English Translation
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In early summer rain,
as I dwell in troubled thought,
the cuckoo at night,
cries deep into the darkness—
whither has it flown away?
- Meaning
- While I am lost in thought in the early summer rain, a cuckoo cries late into the night and flies off—where has it gone?
- Commentary
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Book III, Summer Poems
Composed at a poetry contest in the imperial court during the Kanpyō era.
On a night filled with the sound of rain, the cuckoo cries and flies away into the darkness. Though unseen, the scene is conveyed through sound, and the direction of the bird’s flight seems to reflect the poet’s own troubled thoughts.
- Author
- Ki no Tomonori
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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