Kazu naranu waga mi yamabe no hototogisu konohagakure no koe wa kikoyu ya - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

数ならぬわがみ山辺の郭公
木の葉隠れの声は聞こゆや

Roma-ji: Kazu naranu waga mi yamabe no hototogisu konohagakure no koe wa kikoyu ya
English Translation: I am of no account,
like a cuckoo far within
the deep mountain's edge—
hidden among the leaves, my voice,
does it reach your ears at all?
Meaning: I, who am of no account, am like a cuckoo on the edge of the deep mountains—does my voice, hidden among the leaves, reach your ears?
Commentary: Book Four Summer Poems 179

Headnote: "Sent around the Fifth Month to a woman with whom he exchanged words."
Likening himself, a man of no account, to a cuckoo singing hidden among the leaves of the deep mountains, he asks whether his secret voice reaches her. Humbling himself for his low station, he conveys a hidden love.
According to the headnote, it was sent around the Fifth Month to a woman with whom he had been exchanging words.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Kazu naranu," means "of no account," humbling himself.
In the second line, "mi" is a pivot word joining "mi," self, in "waga mi," and the "mi" of "miyamabe," the edge of the deep mountains. The words shift from himself to the mountain cuckoo.
The third line, "hototogisu," likens himself to a bird that lives deep in the mountains and sings unseen.
The fourth line, "konohagakure no," means "hidden among the leaves," expressing a secret love that shuns others' eyes. It also echoes "kogakurete" in 159 of this book.
The last line, "koe wa kikoyu ya," means "does my voice reach you?" with "ya" as a question. He asks whether his feelings have reached her.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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