夏の夜の心を知れるほととぎす
はやも鳴かなん明けもこそすれ
はやも鳴かなん明けもこそすれ
- Roma-ji
-
Natsu no yo no kokoro o shireru hototogisu haya mo nakanan ake mo koso sure
- English Translation
-
Cuckoo, you who know
the heart of the summer night,
so quickly gone,
sing to me without delay,
for dawn may come at any time.
- Meaning
- Cuckoo, you who know the nature of summer nights, sing quickly, for dawn may break before long.
- Commentary
-
Book Two Summer Poems 121
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet asks the cuckoo, if it knows how quickly summer nights end, to sing soon before dawn breaks. Regretting the shortness of the night and longing for the cuckoo's voice, she addresses the bird directly.
Nakatsukasa was a woman poet of the mid-Heian period, the daughter of Prince Atsuyoshi and Ise. Like her mother Ise, she is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "natsu no yo no," means "of the summer night," presupposing the shortness of summer nights. The next poem, 122, also begins with "natsu no yo wa," and the two poems by the same author form a pair.
Second line, "kokoro o shireru," means "knowing its nature," with "ru," the attributive of the continuative auxiliary "ri." It assumes that the cuckoo, too, must understand that summer nights end quickly.
Third line, "hototogisu," is the cuckoo whose song before dawn is awaited. Following the preceding poems of sleepless nights, the theme moves to the short summer night.
Fourth line, "haya mo nakanan," means "please sing soon," with "nan" as a particle expressing a wish directed at another. The poem pauses here.
Final line, "ake mo koso sure," means "lest the dawn should come," with "mo koso" expressing apprehension of an undesirable outcome, resolved by the realis form "sure."
- Author
- Nakatsukasa
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Hototogisu itaku na naki so hitori ite i no nerarenu ni kikeba kurushi mo
- Next Poem
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Natsu no yo wa urashima no ko ga hako nare ya hakanaku akete kuyashikaruran