Hototogisu hito ni kataranu ori ni shimo hatsune kiku koso kai nakarikere

郭公人に語らぬ折にしも
初音聞くこそかひなかりけれ

Roma-ji: Hototogisu hito ni kataranu ori ni shimo hatsune kiku koso kai nakarikere
English Translation: Ah, the cuckoo's song:
just when I can speak to none,
at that very time,
hearing its first call this year,
how little it profits me!
Meaning: O cuckoo, to hear your first song of the year just when I am keeping a vow of silence and can tell no one of it, what a waste it is!
Commentary: Summer Poems 179

Headnote: "Hearing the cuckoo's first song while I was keeping silence"
The headnote tells us the poem was composed when the poet, observing a practice of silence, heard the cuckoo's first song. The first song of the year is something to share with others in delight, yet he has heard it just when he may speak to no one, and cannot tell anyone his joy.
The verb katarau, to talk, is also used of the cuckoo's singing, and the pairing of a bird that talks in song with a man who may not speak gives a glimpse of Saigyō's life as a monk.

First line, “hototogisu”: the bird that announces summer; its first song of the year, the hatsune, was eagerly awaited.
Second line, “hito ni kataranu”: not speaking with anyone because of the practice of silence; since the cuckoo's song itself can be called talking, the poet's own silence stands out.
Third line, “ori ni shimo”: shimo is emphatic, at just such a time of all times.
Fourth line, “hatsune kiku koso”: the particle koso gives emphasis.
Fifth line, “kai nakarikere”: koso is answered by the perfective form kere, lamenting how little good it does to hear the first song when it cannot be told.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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