春されば妻を求むと鴬の
木末を伝ひ鳴きつつもとな
木末を伝ひ鳴きつつもとな
- Roma-ji
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Haru sareba tsuma o motomu to uguisu no konure o tsutai nakitsutsu motona
- English Translation
-
When the spring comes round,
seeking for itself a mate,
the warbler flits on
along the tops of the trees,
singing, singing, all in vain.
- Meaning
- When spring comes, the bush warbler, seeking a mate, flits from treetop to treetop, singing on and on to no purpose, stirring my heart.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1826
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
This poem depicts a bush warbler in spring, seeking a mate and singing on as it flits from treetop to treetop. The closing "motona" carries the feeling that its song stirs the poet's heart to no purpose, suggesting that the bird's search for a mate awakens the poet's own longing. Where the preceding poems showed a warbler longing for "you," this one presents the warbler itself in search of a mate.
The first line, "when spring comes," also appears in 1815 and marks the arrival of the season.
The second line, "seeking a mate," takes the warbler's song as a call of love for a mate.
The third line, "the warbler," marks the subject, placing the representative bird of spring at the center of the group.
In the fourth line, "along the treetops," "konure" means treetops. It traces the warbler's movement from one treetop to the next.
In the last line, "nakitsutsu motona," "motona" means aimlessly or without reason. It conveys the feeling that the bird's endless song unsettles the poet's heart.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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