Hototogisu itaku na naki so hitori ite i no nerarenu ni kikeba kurushi mo - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

郭公いたくな鳴きそ独り居て
寝の寝られぬに聞けば苦しも

Roma-ji: Hototogisu itaku na naki so hitori ite i no nerarenu ni kikeba kurushi mo
English Translation: Cuckoo, do not
cry out so very loudly,
for I am alone
and cannot fall asleep at all;
to hear you is such pain.
Meaning: Cuckoo, please do not cry so much, for when I am alone and cannot sleep, hearing you only brings me pain.
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 120

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
On a night when she lies alone and cannot sleep, the poet begs the cuckoo not to cry so much, for hearing it is painful. The poem frankly expresses how the cuckoo's voice only deepens the loneliness of sleeping alone.
Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue was a woman poet of the Nara period and a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro. A half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito, she was both aunt and mother-in-law to her nephew Ōtomo no Yakamochi, and she left many poems in the Man'yōshū.
This poem is included in Book Eight of the Man'yōshū as a poem by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue.

First line, "hototogisu," is an address to the cuckoo.
Second line, "itaku na naki so," means "do not cry so much," with "na ... so" expressing prohibition. The poem pauses here. In contrast to "koe na oshimi so" in 117 of this book, which urged the bird to sing, this poem asks it not to, reversing longing and aversion.
Third line, "hitori ite," means "being alone," indicating the loneliness of sleeping alone.
Fourth line, "i no nerarenu ni," means "when I cannot sleep," and like "i koso nerarene" in 118 of this book, it sings of a sleepless night. Whereas that poem could not sleep for waiting for the cuckoo, this one cannot sleep for loneliness, a clear contrast.
Final line, "kikeba kurushi mo," means "hearing it is painful," with "mo" as an exclamatory particle. Taking up the preceding poem's guess that people would find the cuckoo troublesome, this poem sings of the pain directly as the poet's own.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Shui Wakashu
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