Hitori ite monomou yoi ni hototogisu koyu nakiwataru kokoro shi arurashi

ひとり居て物思ふ宵に霍公鳥
こゆ鳴き渡る心しあるらし

Roma-ji: Hitori ite monomou yoi ni hototogisu koyu nakiwataru kokoro shi arurashi
English Translation: Sitting all alone,
lost in thought this evening,
O cuckoo, you bird,
crossing over here in song:
you must have a heart that feels
Meaning: On an evening when I sit alone lost in thought, a cuckoo passes over here singing; it seems to have a heart that understands.
Commentary: Book Eight Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1476

Headnote: "A poem by Oharida no Ason Hiromimi"
On an evening when he sits alone lost in thought, the poet hears a cuckoo cross overhead singing, and feels that even the bird has a heart that understands. The bird's voice seems to draw gently close to his lonely heart.
The author, Oharida no Hiromimi, was an official of the Nara period about whom little is known.

The first line, "sitting alone," sets a scene of solitude.
The second line means "on an evening of brooding"; "yoi" is the time just after nightfall.
The third line names the bird that appears in the evening stillness.
In the fourth line, "koyu" means "passing through here," describing the cuckoo passing over as it sings. The same line appears in 1491 of this book.
The final line, with the emphatic "shi" and inferential "rashi," expresses his feeling that the bird seems to have a heart. 1480 of this book calls on the cuckoo, "have a heart," so poems imagining the bird's feelings stand side by side.
Author: Oharida no Hiromimi
Source: Manyoshu
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