Wasurenamu ware o uramu na hototogisu hito no aki ni wa awamu to mo sezu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

忘れなむ我を恨むな郭公
人のあきにはあはむともせず

Roma-ji: Wasurenamu ware o uramu na hototogisu hito no aki ni wa awamu to mo sezu
English Translation: "I will forget"—so,
do not hold it against me,
O hototogisu:
when the autumn of love comes,
I too will not stay to meet it.
Meaning: Do not resent me for choosing to forget, O cuckoo—just as you will not stay to meet the autumn, I will not wait until he has wearied of me.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 719

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Addressing the cuckoo, the poem expresses a heart that would withdraw before being tired of, just as the cuckoo, a summer bird, departs without waiting for autumn. Making "aki" mean both the season and weariness of heart, it conveys the grace and sorrow of one who leaves of her own accord.
It forms a pair with the preceding poem, 718, sharing the phrase "wasurenamu." Calling out to the cuckoo links it to 710 in this book, and the pivot word "aki" also appears in 688 and 725.

The first line, "wasurenamu," means "I will forget," the intensive "na" joined to the volitional "mu," and begins with the same words as the preceding poem.
The second line, "ware o uramu na," means "do not resent me," closing with the prohibitive "na"; the poem pauses here.
The third line, "hototogisu," addresses the cuckoo, a summer bird that departs without waiting for autumn.
In the fourth line, "hito no aki ni wa," "aki" is a pivot word joining the season of autumn and the weariness with which one is tired of.
The final line, "awamu to mo sezu," means "does not even try to meet," overlaying the cuckoo's silence in autumn with a heart that withdraws before being tired of.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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