如何せむをぐらの山の郭公
おぼつかなしと音をのみぞ鳴く
おぼつかなしと音をのみぞ鳴く
- Roma-ji
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Ikaga semu Ogura no yama no hototogisu obotsukanashi to ne o nomi zo naku
- English Translation
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What am I to do?
On Ogura's dusky mountain
the little cuckoo,
crying how uncertain all is,
does nothing but cry aloud
- Meaning
- What am I to do? On dusky Mount Ogura the cuckoo cries of its unease, doing nothing but crying aloud.
- Commentary
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Book Four Summer Poems 196
Headnote: "Sent to someone."
What is he to do? On dim Mount Ogura the cuckoo cries of its unease, doing nothing but crying aloud. He entrusts to the cuckoo singing on in the dark mountain his anxiety at not knowing how the other fares.
According to the headnote, it was sent to someone.
The poet, Fujiwara no Morotada, was the fifth son of Fujiwara no Tadahira and rose to Minister of the Left. Because his residence stood at Koichijō, he was called the Minister of the Left of Koichijō.
The first line, "Ikaga semu," means "what am I to do?" stating plainly a heart at a loss, and the poem pauses here.
In the second line, "Ogura" is a pivot word joining Mount Ogura, a famed place in Yamashiro Province, and "ogura," dusky.
The third line, "hototogisu," likens the poet's uneasy heart to a bird singing in the dark mountain.
The fourth line, "obotsukanashi to," means "that it is uncertain and uneasy," echoing "ogura," dusky, in the second line and expressing anxiety at not knowing how the other fares.
The last line, "ne o nomi zo naku," means "does nothing but cry," with the particle "zo" forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "naku." It shares this last line with 175 and 184 of this book.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Morotada
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Utsusemi no koe kiku kara ni mono zo omou ware mo munashiki yo ni shi sumaeba
- Next Poem
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Hototogisu akatsukigata no hitokoe wa uki yo no naka o sugusu narikeri