二上の峰の上の茂に隠りにし
その霍公鳥待てど来鳴かず
その霍公鳥待てど来鳴かず
- Roma-ji
-
Futagami no o no ue no shige ni komorinishi sono hototogisu matedo kinakazu
- English Translation
-
On Mount Futagami,
in the thickets on its peak,
hiding itself away,
that little cuckoo—though I wait,
it does not come to sing
- Meaning
- The cuckoo that has hidden itself in the thickets on the peak of Mount Futagami does not come to sing, though I wait and wait.
- Commentary
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Book Nineteen 4239
Headnote: "A poem on the cuckoo"
The poem says that the cuckoo hidden in the thickets on the peak of Mount Futagami does not come to sing however long the poet waits. It conveys the longing of waiting for a bird that stays on a nearby mountain yet will not show itself.
Mount Futagami rises behind the provincial headquarters of Etchū and often appears in Yakamochi's poems. The left note says, "The above was composed by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi on the sixteenth day of the fourth month," in 751. The second line is hypermetric.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Grand Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. From 746 he served as Governor of Etchū, living at the provincial headquarters in what is now Fushiki, Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture. He is regarded as the leading poet of the Nara period and is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.
First line, "Futagami no" (of Futagami), names the mountain behind the provincial headquarters.
Second line, "o no ue no shige ni" (in the thickets on the peak), is hypermetric; "shige" means dense growth.
Third line, "komorinishi" (that has hidden itself): "nishi" marks completion and the past.
Fourth line, "sono hototogisu" (that cuckoo), points to the bird that has hidden.
Fifth line, "matedo kinakazu" (though I wait, it does not come to sing), closes with frank expression of longing.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Kimi ga yuki moshi hisa ni araba ume yanagi tare to tomo ni ka waga kazurakamu
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Ōbune ni makaji shijinuki kono ako o Karakuni e yaru iwae kamitachi