Satsukiyami kurahashiyama no hototogisu obotsukanaku mo nakiwataru kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

五月闇くらはし山の郭公
おぼつかなくも鳴き渡るかな

Roma-ji: Satsukiyami kurahashiyama no hototogisu obotsukanaku mo nakiwataru kana
English Translation: In the fifth month's dark,
on the hill of Kurahashi,
the cuckoo
unseen and indistinct
crosses over as it sings.
Meaning: In the darkness of the Fifth Month, the cuckoo of Kurahashi's hill crosses over singing, its form uncertain in the gloom.
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 124

Headnote: "On a painting kept at the Crown Prince's palace, a scene of a cuckoo flying across Mount Kurahashi"
The poem depicts a cuckoo crossing over Mount Kurahashi, wrapped in the darkness of the Fifth Month, singing as it goes while its form remains unclear. Letting "kurahashi" echo "kurashi" (dark), it captures the mood of a voice alone passing through the darkness. According to the headnote, it accompanied a scene of a cuckoo flying over Mount Kurahashi in a painting kept at the Crown Prince's palace.
The author, written as Fujiwara no Sanekata Ason, was a poet of the mid-Heian period. A son of Fujiwara no Sadatoki, he served as Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, then went down to Mutsu as governor and died there. He is counted among the Later Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "satsukiyami," refers to the darkness of nights in the season of summer rain. It also echoes "ko no shitayami" in 127 of this book, as one of the poems on summer darkness.
Second line, "kurahashiyama no," is a pivot word in which "kurahashi" means both Mount Kurahashi in Yamato and "dark." Taking up the darkness of the first line, it lets the mountain's name carry the sense of darkness.
Third line, "hototogisu," is the cuckoo flying through the dark.
Fourth line, "obotsukanaku mo," means "uncertainly, dimly," referring to how the bird cannot be seen in the dark.
Final line, "nakiwataru kana," means "it crosses over singing." Like "nakiwataru naru" in 100 of this book, it grasps the passing cuckoo by its voice; whereas 100 sang of a faint voice at dawn, this poem sings of a voice in the darkness of the Fifth Month.
Author: Fujiwara no Sanekata
Source: Shui Wakashu
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