五月雨のそらもとどろに郭公
なにをうしとかよただなくらむ
なにをうしとかよただなくらむ
- Roma-ji
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Samidare no sora mo todoro ni hototogisu
nani o ushi to ka yo tada nakuramu - English Translation
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In the rainy skies
of the Fifth Month, resounding,
the cuckoo cries on—
what sorrow burdens its heart,
that it calls so endlessly?
- Meaning
- In the resounding skies of the Fifth Month rains, the cuckoo cries on—what sorrow does it bear, that it calls so endlessly?
- Commentary
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Book III, Summer Poems
Composed upon hearing the cuckoo’s cry.
The poet wonders what grief the cuckoo feels, that it should cry so insistently beneath the roaring rains of early summer.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Kozo no natsu nakifurushite hototogisu
sore ka aranu ka koe no kawaranu - Next Poem
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Hototogisu koe mo kikoezu yamabiko wa
hoka ni naku ne o kotae ya wa senu