秋近み夏果てゆけば郭公
鳴く声かたき心地こそすれ
鳴く声かたき心地こそすれ
- Roma-ji
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Aki chikami natsu hateyukeba hototogisu naku koe kataki kokochi koso sure
- English Translation
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With autumn so near,
as the summer comes to its end,
the little cuckoo,
its singing voice is hard to hear,
or so it seems to me now
- Meaning
- With autumn drawing near and summer coming to its end, I feel the cuckoo's song has grown hard to hear.
- Commentary
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Book Four Summer Poems 208
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
As autumn nears and summer draws to a close, the poet feels the cuckoo's song has grown hard to hear. In the fading of the summer bird's voice he expresses regret at summer's end.
The cuckoo, sung so often in this book, is here mourned as it departs with the end of summer.
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, "Aki chikami," means "because autumn is near," giving a reason through the mi construction. It has the same form as "samidare chikami" in 163 of this book, contrasting the cuckoo beginning to sing at summer's start with its voice fading at summer's end.
The second line, "natsu hateyukeba," means "as summer comes to an end."
The third line, "hototogisu," places the cuckoo as the bird of summer.
The fourth line, "naku koe kataki," means "its song is hard to hear."
The last line, "kokochi koso sure," means "so it feels," with the particle "koso" forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the perfective "sure."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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