あしひきの山霍公鳥汝が鳴けば
家なる妹し常に偲はゆ
家なる妹し常に偲はゆ
- Roma-ji
-
Ashihiki no yamahototogisu na ga nakeba ie naru imo shi tsune ni shinowayu
- English Translation
-
Of the rugged hills,
O cuckoo of the mountains,
whenever you sing
the wife I left at home
comes always to my mind
- Meaning
- O mountain cuckoo, whenever you sing, I cannot help thinking always of my wife at home.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1469
Headnote: "A poem on the cuckoo by a novice monk"
Hearing the cuckoo sing in the mountains, the poet cannot stop thinking of the wife he left at home. Perhaps on a journey or at a place of religious practice, he is drawn by the cuckoo's voice into longing for his wife.
The author is identified in the headnote only as "a novice," and his name is not known. A novice was a monk in training who had only recently taken vows.
The first line, "ashihiki no," is a pillow word for "mountain."
The second line, "mountain cuckoo," is an address.
The third line means "when you sing," showing that the voice stirs his thoughts.
The fourth line names his wife at home, stressing the object of his longing with the emphatic "shi."
The final line, with the spontaneous "yu," expresses that he cannot help thinking of her. The feeling that the cuckoo's voice stirs longing also connects with 1467 and 1475 of this book.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Hototogisu koe kiku ono no akikaze ni hagi sakinure ya koe no tomoshiki
- Next Poem
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Mononofu no iwase no mori no hototogisu ima mo nakanu ka yama no tokage ni