Higurashi no koe o koishimi kenubeku wa miyama tōri ni haya mo kine kashi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ひぐらしの声を恋しみ消ぬべくは
み山通りにはやも来ねかし

Roma-ji: Higurashi no koe o koishimi kenubeku wa miyama tōri ni haya mo kine kashi
English Translation: If for the cicada's
voice you long so that you'd
fade away,
then by the deep mountain path
come back to me with all speed
Meaning: If you long so for the evening cicada's voice that you might fade away, then come back quickly by way of the deep mountains.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1128

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that if she longs so for the higurashi's voice that she might fade away, she should come quickly by way of the mountains. Taking up the lines of the preceding poem almost word for word, he turns them into a summons, answering that if she longs for it, she has only to come back.
It is Tokihira's reply to the Senji's poem before it.
The poet, "the posthumous Chancellor," is Fujiwara no Tokihira. Eldest son of Fujiwara no Mototsune, he rose to Minister of the Left and was posthumously granted the office of Chancellor, hence the title. He is known for having Sugawara no Michizane exiled to Dazaifu.

The first line, "Higurashi no," takes up the third line of the preceding poem directly.
The second line, "koe o koishimi," means "since you long for its voice," the same as the fourth line of the preceding poem.
The third line, "kenubeku wa," means "if you are likely to fade away," recasting "ima mo kenubeshi" of the preceding poem as a supposition.
The fourth line, "miyama tōri ni," means "by way of the deep mountains," answering "miyama yori" in the first line of the preceding poem and making the cicada's mountains her road.
The last line, "haya mo kine kashi," means "come quickly, do," with "kine" adding the imperative of the perfective "nu" and "kashi" a particle of insistence.
Author: Fujiwara no Tokihira
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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