Ika ni shite koto katarawan hototogisu nageki no shita ni nakeba kai nashi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかにして事語らはん郭公
なげきの下になけばかひなし

Roma-ji: Ika ni shite koto katarawan hototogisu nageki no shita ni nakeba kai nashi
English Translation: How then shall we speak
and share our words together,
O cuckoo, when you
sing beneath the boughs of grief—
there is no use in weeping
Meaning: How can we ever talk together, cuckoo? If you only cry beneath the boughs of grief, as I weep, it is of no use.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems VI 1020

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet asks the cuckoo how they might ever talk together, since crying beneath the tree of grief is of no use. Calling out to the cuckoo, he laments that weeping in sorrow leaves no way to share one's heart in words.
In waka the cuckoo is often sung of as a bird that speaks to people. In 1006 in this book a cuckoo calling once and flying off stood for a man who rarely visits; here the poet's own weeping in grief is overlaid on the cuckoo.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Ika ni shite," means "in what way."
The second line, "koto katarawan," means "shall we speak together," with "n" an auxiliary of intention taking a questioning sense from "ika ni" in the first line. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "hototogisu," calls out, "O cuckoo." It is the same as the third line of 1006 in this book.
The fourth line, "nageki no shita ni," means "beneath grief," with "nageki" joining grief and "nagegi," firewood, picturing the cuckoo singing beneath a tree.
The last line, "nakeba kai nashi," means "there is no use in crying," with "nake" joining the cuckoo's singing and a person's weeping.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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