Though the orange blooms,
where once it made its lodging,
have not yet withered,
why then has the cuckoo’s cry
fallen silent all at once?
- Meaning
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Though the orange blossoms where it once lodged have not yet withered, why has the cuckoo’s cry fallen silent?
- Commentary
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Book III, Summer Poems
Composed at a poetry contest in the imperial court during the Kanpyō era.
If the orange blossoms where the cuckoo lodged had withered, it would be understandable, yet they have not. The poem wonders why, then, the cuckoo’s voice is no longer heard.
- Author
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Oe no Chisato
- Source
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Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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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?
-
Is it the dark night,
or has it lost its way?
the cuckoo cries on,
unable to pass beyond
my dwelling, lingering there.
-
On a summer night,
just as I seem to fall asleep,
the cuckoo’s one cry—
and already the dawn breaks,
light spreading in the east.
-
Just as it grows dark,
already it turns to dawn—
this summer night so brief;
is it for this it cries on,
the cuckoo in the hills?