ほととぎすこゑもきこえず山びこは
ほかになくねをこたへやはせぬ
ほかになくねをこたへやはせぬ
- Roma-ji
-
Hototogisu koe mo kikoezu yamabiko wa
hoka ni naku ne o kotae ya wa senu - English Translation
-
No cuckoo’s voice
is heard here at all, and yet
the mountain echo—
why does it not bring to me
the cry from somewhere afar?
- Meaning
- No cuckoo’s voice is heard here at all; why does the mountain echo not carry to me the cry from elsewhere?
- Commentary
-
Book III, Summer Poems
Composed when courtiers, gathered in the palace antechamber, were asked to compose a poem on waiting for the cuckoo.
Here, rather than waiting for the season when the cuckoo begins to sing, the poet longs to hear its voice already sounding somewhere else, wondering why even the echo does not convey it.
- Author
- Oshikochi no Mitsune
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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Samidare no sora mo todoro ni hototogisu
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Hototogisu hito matsuyama ni naku nareba
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