夏の夜のふすかとすれば郭公
なくひとこゑにあくるしののめ
なくひとこゑにあくるしののめ
- Roma-ji
-
Natsu no yo no fusu ka to sureba hototogisu
naku hitokoe ni akuru shinonome - English Translation
-
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.
- Meaning
- On a summer night, just as I seem to fall asleep, a single cry of the cuckoo—and already dawn begins to break.
- Commentary
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Book III, Summer Poems
Composed at a poetry contest in the imperial court during the Kanpyō era.
The shortness of summer nights is expressed through the cuckoo’s cry, a familiar seasonal image.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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