Samidare ni naranu kagiri wa hototogisu nani ka wa nakamu shinobu bakari ni - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

五月雨にならぬ限りは郭公
何かはなかむしのぶばかりに

Roma-ji: Samidare ni naranu kagiri wa hototogisu nani ka wa nakamu shinobu bakari ni
English Translation: Until it becomes
the season of the early summer rains,
the hototogisu—
why should it ever sing out,
only hiding its voice away?
Meaning: Until the season of the early summer rains comes, why should the cuckoo sing? It only keeps its voice hidden.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 391

Headnote: "Hanakamushi (hanakamushi insect)"
The poet says that until the season of the early summer rains, the cuckoo keeps its voice hidden, so why should it sing? Turning inside out the eager wait for the cuckoo's first call, the poem hides the name "hanakamushi" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "ha nakamu shi" from the fourth to the final line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
The monk Senkei is said to have been a monk of the mid-Heian period, but little is known of his life.

First line, "samidare ni," means "into the season of the early summer rains."
Second line, "naranu kagiri wa," means "until it becomes."
Third line, "hototogisu," is the cuckoo, a summer bird whose call was much loved.
Fourth line, "nani ka wa nakamu," means "why should it sing," with "ka wa" a rhetorical question. From the "ha" of "ka wa" through "shi" at the start of the final line, it hides the name "hanakamushi."
Final line, "shinobu bakari ni," means "only keeping its voice hidden," giving by inversion the reason for the fourth line.
Author: The Monk Senkei
Source: Shui Wakashu
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