今夜のおほつかなきに霍公鳥
鳴くなる声の音の遥けさ
鳴くなる声の音の遥けさ
- Roma-ji
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Koyoi no ōtsukanaki ni hototogisu naku naru koe no oto no harukesa
- English Translation
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On this night tonight,
dim, uncertain in the dark,
hototogisu—
how its voice is heard to sing,
the sound of it, so far away!
- Meaning
- In the dim uncertainty of tonight, how far away sounds the voice of the hototogisu I hear singing!
- Commentary
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Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1952
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
This poem sings of the hototogisu's voice heard faintly and far off in the dim darkness of night. It captures a beauty of hearing, where only the voice echoes from afar in darkness where no form can be seen. In the nominal ending "oto no harukesa," the far-off sound, linger both the echo of the voice and a wistful heart.
The first line, "tonight," is a short line of fewer syllables.
The second line, "ōtsukanaki ni," in the dim uncertainty, shows the blur of the night's darkness.
The third line, "hototogisu," names the source of the voice.
In the fourth line, "naku naru koe no," "naru" is the attributive of the auxiliary "nari" of hearsay, showing that the singing is known only by its voice.
The last line, "the farness of the sound," is a nominal ending closing with the lingering echo of a distant voice.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Uretaki ya shikohototogisu ima koso ba koe no karu gani kinaki toyomeme
- Next Poem
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Satsukiyama unohanazukuyo hototogisu kikedomo akazu mata nakanu ka mo