classic waka stream

山里へ誰をまたこはよぶこ鳥
ひとりのみこそ住まんと思ふに
Roma-ji

Yamazato e tare o mata ko wa yobukodori hitori nomi koso suman to omou ni

English Translation
To my mountain home
whom do you call yet again,
you who cry out so,
when I have resolved to dwell
here entirely alone?
Meaning
Whom are you calling yet again to this mountain village, calling bird, when I mean to live here all alone?
Commentary
Spring Poems 49

Headnote: "The calling bird at a mountain dwelling"
The topic is the calling bird at a mountain dwelling. To the yobukodori, whose cry sounds like someone calling, the poet asks whom it is summoning again, when he means to live in this mountain village alone.
The name yobukodori is overlaid with yobu, to call, so the bird's cry is heard as a voice inviting people. In the mismatch between a heart that has chosen solitary life in the mountains and a bird that calls for company, there is a faint humour and loneliness.

First line, “yamazato e”: to this mountain village, a dwelling few visit.
Second line, “tare o mata ko wa”: whom, yet again, here, framed as a question.
Third line, “yobukodori”: yobu is a pivot word joining the bird's name with to call, with a break after the third line.
Fourth line, “hitori nomi koso”: koso is emphatic, but since the fifth line continues with a conjunctive particle, the expected ending is not completed.
Fifth line, “suman to omou ni”: when I intend to live, with the adversative ni hinting at reproach of the bird.
Author
Saigyō
Source
Sankashu
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