Hototogisu kiiru kakine wa chika nagara machidō ni nomi koe no kikoenu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

郭公来ゐる垣根は近ながら
待ち遠にのみ声の聞こえぬ

Roma-ji: Hototogisu kiiru kakine wa chika nagara machidō ni nomi koe no kikoenu
English Translation: The cuckoo perches
on a hedge that stands so close,
and yet, nonetheless,
I only wait and wait, and still
no voice of it reaches me
Meaning: The hedge where the cuckoo comes to perch is close at hand, and yet I only wait and wait, and its voice never reaches me.
Commentary: Book Four Summer Poems 149

Headnote: "Around the Fourth Month, staying near where a friend lived, she waited, sure that he would send word, but there was no sound from him."
The hedge where the cuckoo perches is close by, yet the poet only waits, and no voice is heard. She reproaches a friend who lives nearby but sends no word, likening him to a cuckoo slow to sing.
According to the headnote, around the Fourth Month the poet was staying near where a friend lived and waited, sure that word would come, but nothing arrived. The next poem is the friend's reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the author as "yomibito mo," but it is treated here as anonymous.

The first line, "Hototogisu," likens the friend whose word is awaited to the cuckoo, a bird always longed for.
The second line, "kiiru kakine wa," means "the hedge where it comes to perch," pointing to the friend's dwelling. Following the preceding poem, 148, it again places the cuckoo on a hedge.
The third line, "chika nagara," means "though it is near," setting nearness against the absence of word.
The fourth line, "machidō ni nomi," means "only waiting and waiting." The next poem, 150, answers with "tōkarade," turning it back with "it is not far."
In the last line, "nu" is the attributive form of the negative auxiliary "zu," and ending on the attributive adds a sigh. "Koe," voice, also means word from the friend, and the next poem takes it up with "kikanu naruran."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: U no hana no sakeru kakine no tsuki kiyomi inezu kike to ya naku hototogisu
Next Poem: Hototogisu koe matsu hodo wa tōkarade shinobi ni naku o kikanu naruran