Cricket, do not cry
so bitterly in the night—
for this autumn eve,
though long your lament may be,
my own thoughts are longer still.
- Meaning
-
Cricket, do not cry so sorrowfully; though the autumn night is long, the thoughts I bear are longer still.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)
This poem was composed when, visiting someone at night, the poet heard the sound of crickets.
Though it seems to ask the cricket not to cry, it reflects the poet’s own sorrow, suggesting that even greater than the grief heard in the insect’s voice is the loneliness within their own heart.
“Kirikirisu” in this context refers to what is now called a cricket.
- Author
-
Fujiwara no Tadanobu
- Source
-
Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
-
In the moon above,
the cassia tree there too, perhaps,
in autumn still
turns to crimson leaves—so that
its light shines all the more bright.
-
On an autumn night,
the moonlight shines so bright that
even Kurabu’s mount—
the mountain of deep darkness—
seems as though I could cross it.
-
All through autumn nights,
not knowing when dawn has come,
the insects keep crying—
are they, like myself, as well,
filled with such sorrowful thoughts?
-
As bush clover fades
and takes on autumn colors—
the cricket’s cry;
like me, who cannot find sleep,
are its nights filled with sorrow?