山里に知る人もがな郭公
鳴きぬと聞かば告げに来るがに
鳴きぬと聞かば告げに来るがに
- Roma-ji
-
Yamazato ni shiru hito mo gana hototogisu nakinu to kikaba tsuge ni kuru gani
- English Translation
-
In the mountain village
if only I had a friend!
When the cuckoo
has been heard singing there,
they would come to tell me so.
- Meaning
- If only I had someone I knew in the mountain village, so that when they heard the cuckoo sing, they would come to let me know.
- Commentary
-
Book Two Summer Poems 98
Headnote: "For a folding screen in the reign of Engi"
The poet wishes for an acquaintance in a mountain village who would come at once to tell him when the cuckoo sings. The cuckoo was thought to sing first in mountain villages, and the poem reveals the city dweller's eagerness to learn of its first song as soon as possible. According to the headnote, it accompanied a folding screen made in the Engi era of Emperor Daigo.
The author, written as Tsurayuki, is Ki no Tsurayuki. The leading compiler of the Kokinshū, he wrote its Kana Preface and the Tosa Diary, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "yamazato ni," names the mountain village where the cuckoo was thought to sing first. The next poem, 99, also begins with "yamazato ni," so that the two poems form a pair.
Second line, "shiru hito mo gana," means "if only I had someone I knew," with "mogana" as a particle of desire. The poem pauses here.
Third line, "hototogisu," names the eagerly awaited cuckoo.
Fourth line, "nakinu to kikaba," means "if they hear that it has sung," with "ba" marking a hypothetical condition.
Final line, "tsuge ni kuru gani," means "so that they would come to tell me," with "gani" as a conjunctive particle of purpose. Whereas the preceding poem wished to hear one song in person, this one wishes to be told of it by another.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ie ni kite nani o kataramu ashihiki no yamahototogisu hitokoe mo gana
- Next Poem
-
Yamazato ni yadorazariseba hototogisu kiku hito mo naki ne o ya nakamashi