霍公鳥なほも鳴かなむ本つ人
かけつつもとな我を音し泣くも
かけつつもとな我を音し泣くも
- Roma-ji
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Hototogisu nao mo nakanamu mototsuhito kaketsutsu motona a o ne shi naku mo
- English Translation
-
Hototogisu,
keep on singing still, I pray;
one I knew of old
you call to mind, and helplessly
I weep aloud at your cry
- Meaning
- Hototogisu, sing on still. Your voice brings to mind someone I knew long ago, and I cannot help but weep aloud.
- Commentary
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Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4437
Headnote: "A poem on the hototogisu composed by the former retired sovereign," with a note: "This is Empress Yamatoneko Takamizu Kiyotarashi-hime."
Hototogisu, sing on; your voice calls to mind one I knew of old, and I weep aloud without cause: a poem of nostalgia. According to the left note, this and three other poems were recited and passed on by Ōhara no Imaki, senior secretary of Kazusa, and the year and month are unknown. The hototogisu was thought to recall the past, and its voice draws the poet to remember those gone and days gone by. Who the "one of old" is remains unclear.
The author, the former retired sovereign, is Empress Genshō, daughter of Prince Kusakabe and Empress Genmei, who remained a weighty presence at court as retired sovereign after yielding the throne to Emperor Shōmu.
The first line, "hototogisu," names the summer bird sung of as recalling the past.
The second line, "nao mo nakanamu," uses namu, a wish directed at another: please sing on. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "mototsuhito," means someone known of old, a long-familiar person.
The fourth line, "kaketsutsu motona," uses kaku, "to hold in one's heart," and motona, "without reason, helplessly."
The closing line, "a o ne shi naku mo," "I weep aloud," ends in the exclamatory mo. The next poem is a courtier's reply to it.
- Author
- Empress Genshō
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Yami no yo no yukusaki shirazu yuku ware o itsu kimasamu to toishi kora wa mo
- Next Poem
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Hototogisu koko ni chikaku o kinakite yo suginamu nochi ni shirushi arame ya mo