Koishigemi nagusamekanete higurashi no naku shimakage ni iori suru kamo

恋繁み慰めかねてひぐらしの
鳴く島蔭に廬りするかも

Roma-ji: Koishigemi nagusamekanete higurashi no naku shimakage ni iori suru kamo
English Translation: My longing so thick
that I find no solace,
where the cicadas cry
in the island's shadow
I make my shelter
Meaning: My longing grows so thick I cannot console myself, and here in the shadow of the island where the evening cicadas cry, I make my rough shelter.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3620

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Five poems composed while anchored by the rocky shore of Nagato Island in Aki Province"
Unable to console his growing longing, he makes his rough shelter in the shadow of the island where the evening cicadas cry. The higurashi's voices at dusk heighten the loneliness of sleeping on a journey and his longing for his wife. The higurashi also cried in 3589 of this book, which sang of the dusk on Mount Ikoma as he went to see his wife before departure, making the cicada an image linking the day he hurried to her with the distant present.
According to the headnote, this is one of five poems composed while anchored by the rocky shore of Nagato Island in Aki Province, thought to be present-day Kurahashi Island in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture. Of the five, only the first has its author named in a left note; the author of this poem is not named.

First line, "koishigemi": "shigemi" is the stem of "shigeshi" with "mi," giving a cause: since longing presses thick upon me.
Second line, "nagusamekanete": "kanu" means unable: unable to console my heart.
Third line, "higurashi no": the cicada that cries "kana-kana" at dusk, an image also sung in 3589 of this book.
Fourth line, "naku shimakage ni": in the shadow of the island where the cicadas cry, where the ship lay at anchor.
Fifth line, "iori suru kamo": "iori" means lodging in a rough hut and "kamo" is exclamatory: here I make my shelter, the poem ends.
Source: Manyoshu
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