いにしへよ偲ひにければ霍公鳥
鳴く声聞きて恋しきものを
鳴く声聞きて恋しきものを
- Roma-ji
-
Inishie yo shinoinikereba hototogisu naku koe kikite koishiki mono o
- English Translation
-
Since the days of old
people have cherished its song,
so the cuckoo's call—
when I hear it singing now,
a longing fills my heart.
- Meaning
- Because people have cherished it since ancient times, when I hear the cuckoo sing, a longing wells up in me.
- Commentary
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Book Eighteen 4119
Headnote: "A poem composed on hearing a cuckoo call."
The poet says that because people have cherished the cuckoo since ancient times, hearing its song stirs longing in him. He suggests that the bird's voice moves the heart because of a long tradition of love for it, revealing his awareness of himself as an heir to that poetic tradition.
Ōtomo no Yakamochi was the son of Ōtomo no Tabito, and from 746 he served as governor of Etchū. He is believed to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū, and this book has the character of a poetic diary of his years in Etchū. The headnote and left note do not name the author, but from the arrangement the poem is attributed to Yakamochi.
First line, "inishie yo": "yo" marks a starting point, "since ancient times," pointing to the long tradition of cherishing the cuckoo.
Second line, "shinoinikereba": "shinou" means to be drawn to and cherish. "Nikere" combines perfective and past auxiliaries, and the perfective form plus "ba" gives a reason.
Third line, "hototogisu": the cuckoo, sung again and again throughout this book, is placed at the center here as well.
Fourth line, "naku koe kikite": "hearing its voice as it sings."
Last line, "koishiki mono o": "mono o" is exclamatory, "how I long!" Without saying what is longed for, it leaves as an afterglow the vague longing that the cuckoo's song awakens.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Kaku shite mo aimiru mono o sukunaku mo toshitsuki fureba koishikere ya mo
- Next Poem
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Mimaku hori omoishi nae ni kazurakage kaguwashi kimi o aimitsuru kamo