Hototogisu kikade akenuru natsu no yo no Urashima no ko wa makoto narikeri

郭公聞かで明けぬる夏の夜の
浦島の子はまことなりけり

Roma-ji: Hototogisu kikade akenuru natsu no yo no Urashima no ko wa makoto narikeri
English Translation: The cuckoo unheard,
the night has dawned and ended,
summer's fleeting night:
the tale of Urashima,
now I know that it was true.
Meaning: The summer night has dawned before I heard the cuckoo; now I know that the tale of Urashima, for whom years passed in an instant, was true.
Commentary: Summer Poems 187

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the topic of waiting for the cuckoo in vain until dawn"
Like the preceding poem, this one is on the topic of waiting for the cuckoo in vain until dawn. While waiting for the cuckoo, the brief summer night has ended without its song. In that sudden passing the poet finds proof that the tale of Urashima, for whom long years vanished the moment he opened his casket, must be true.
The legend of Urashima is an old story sung of in a long poem of the Man'yōshū, known for its ending in which he grows old in an instant on opening the box. The ingenuity lies in overlaying the shortness of the summer night on that instant of passing time.

First line, “hototogisu”: the bird the poet has been waiting for.
Second line, “kikade akenuru”: the night has dawned without my hearing it; the line nearly repeats kikade akenu to in the second line of the preceding poem, linking the two. Ake, dawning, is also associated with opening, as Urashima opened his casket.
Third line, “natsu no yo no”: the summer night, known for its brevity.
Fourth line, “Urashima no ko wa”: the legend of Urashima, who returned from the sea god's palace, opened his casket, and aged in a moment.
Fifth line, “makoto narikeri”: keri expresses realization, closing with the thought that the story was true after all.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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