旅寝して妻恋ひすらし郭公
神なび山にさ夜更けて鳴く
神なび山にさ夜更けて鳴く
- Roma-ji
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Tabine shite tsumagoi surashi hototogisu kannabiyama ni sayo fukete naku
- English Translation
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Sleeping on a journey,
it must be longing for its mate,
the little cuckoo,
on Kannabi Mountain
late into the night it sings
- Meaning
- Sleeping far from home, it must be longing for its mate—the cuckoo sings on Kannabi Mountain late into the night.
- Commentary
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Book Four Summer Poems 187
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The cuckoo singing late at night on Kannabi Mountain must be sleeping on a journey and longing for its mate. Hearing in its voice a traveler's longing for his wife, the poem conveys the loneliness of the mountain at night.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
It is also included in Fujiwara no Teika's anthology Teika Hachidaishō.
The first line, "Tabine shite," means "sleeping on a journey," likening the cuckoo to a traveler.
The second line, "tsumagoi surashi," means "it must be longing for its mate," with "rashi" expressing an inference from evidence. It infers this from the late-night song, and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "hototogisu," places the cuckoo as a bird sleeping away from home.
In the fourth line, "Kannabiyama" means a mountain where a god dwells and is a famed place in Yamato Province.
The last line, "sayo fukete naku," means "sings late in the night," with "sa" as a prefix.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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