くるるかと見ればあけぬるなつのよを
あかずとやなく山郭公
あかずとやなく山郭公
- Roma-ji
-
Kururu ka to mireba akenuru natsu no yo o
akazu to ya naku yamahototogisu - English Translation
-
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?
- Meaning
- Just as it seems to grow dark, it is already dawn—does the cuckoo in the hills cry because it cannot have its fill of such a brief summer night?
- Commentary
-
Book III, Summer Poems
Composed at a poetry contest in the imperial court during the Kanpyō era.
The shortness of the summer night is lamented through the cuckoo’s cry; not only the bird, but also the poet visiting his beloved would feel this brevity.
- Author
- Mibu no Tadamine
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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