雲居より遠山鳥の鳴きてゆく
声ほのかなる恋もするかな
声ほのかなる恋もするかな
- Roma-ji
-
Kumoi yori tooyamadori no nakite yuku koe honoka naru koi mo suru kana
- English Translation
-
High among the clouds
the pheasant of the far hills
goes calling away;
faint as that voice, so faint,
is the love that I now feel
- Meaning
- Like the voice of a pheasant from the distant hills calling as it passes high among the clouds, faint is the love I feel.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1415
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the fifth poem of the sequence on sky and clouds. Like the voice of a distant pheasant calling as it passes high in the sky, the speaker's love reaches only faintly. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Mitsune," was a poet of the early Heian period of the Ōshikōchi clan. With Ki no Tsurayuki and others, he compiled the Kokinshū.
The first line, "kumoi yori," means "high in the sky." It takes up the "white clouds" of the preceding poem, continuing the cloud imagery.
The second line, "tooyamadori no," means "of the pheasant of the distant hills." It is the same word as "tooyamadori" in 1371, recalling the tradition of the copper pheasant sleeping apart from its mate.
The third line, "nakite yuku," means "goes calling as it flies." The first three lines form a preface leading to "honoka" (faint).
The fourth line, "koe honoka naru," means "whose voice is faintly heard." The faintness of a distant bird's voice passes into the faintness of love.
The last line, "koi mo suru kana," closes with the exclamatory "kana." A love in which the beloved can be sensed only faintly is likened to the voice of a bird passing far across the sky.
- Author
- Oshikochi no Mitsune
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Omoiyaru kokoro mo sora ni shirakumo no idetatsu kata o shirase ya wa senu
- Next Poem
-
Kumoi naru kari dani nakite kuru aki ni nadoka wa hito no otozure mo senu