臥すからにまづぞわびしき郭公
鳴きも果てぬに明くる夜なれば
鳴きも果てぬに明くる夜なれば
- Roma-ji
-
Fusu kara ni mazu zo wabishiki hototogisu naki mo hatenu ni akuru yo nareba
- English Translation
-
No sooner do I lie
down than first comes my distress,
little cuckoo, for
before your song is even done
the night has already dawned
- Meaning
- No sooner do I lie down than I am filled with distress, for the night dawns before the cuckoo has even finished its song.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Summer Poems 181
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
As soon as the poet lies down, he is first of all filled with distress. He laments the brevity of the summer night, which dawns before the cuckoo has finished singing.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
In the first line, "kara ni" means "as soon as": "no sooner do I lie down."
The second line, "mazu zo wabishiki," means "first of all I am distressed," with the particle "zo" forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "wabishiki."
The third line, "hototogisu," places the cuckoo as a bird that sings at night, and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "naki mo hatenu ni," means "before it has even finished singing."
The last line, "akuru yo nareba," means "for it is a night that dawns," giving the reason for "wabishiki" in the second line in inverted order. Like "ake zo shinikeru" in 169 of this book, it laments the brevity of the summer night.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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