Naku koe ni soite namida wa noboranedo kumo no ue yori ame to fururan - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

なく声に添ひて涙はのぼらねど
雲の上より雨と降るらむ

Roma-ji: Naku koe ni soite namida wa noboranedo kumo no ue yori ame to fururan
English Translation: Though along with cries
of grief the tears do not
rise into the sky,
why is it that from above
the clouds they fall as rain
Meaning: Though tears do not rise up with the crane's grieving cries, why should they fall as rain from above the clouds?
Commentary: Book Twenty Congratulatory Poems 1423

Headnote: "When one of a pair of cranes she kept had died and the one left cried bitterly, on a day when rain was falling."
Ise asks why, though tears do not rise with the crying voice, they fall as rain from above the clouds. On a day when one of a pair of cranes has died and the survivor cries piteously, she sees the falling rain as if the crane's tears were dropping from above the clouds, feeling for the one left behind.
According to the headnote, one of a pair of cranes she kept had died and the survivor was crying bitterly, and as it was raining she composed this. Poem 1400 of this book likewise sings of a mandarin duck crying alone after losing its mate.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, Governor of Ise, and served Fujiwara no Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda. She received the emperor's favor and later bore Nakatsukasa to Prince Atsuyoshi. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, she is represented in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu by "Naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo."

The first line, "Naku koe ni," is a pivot word on "naku," both the crane crying out and weeping in grief.
The second line, "soite namida wa," means "tears, accompanying the voice."
The third line, "noboranedo," means "though they do not rise," with "do" concessive. The crane is a bird whose voice carries high into the sky.
The fourth line, "kumo no ue yori," means "from above the clouds."
The last line, "ame to fururan," means "why do they fall as rain," with "ran" a conjecture about the cause. Poem 1414 of this book also sings of tears and rain together.
Author: Ise
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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