Hototogisu kiku ni tote shimo komoranedo Hatsuse no yama wa tayori arikeri

郭公聞くにとてしも籠らねど
初瀬の山はたよりありけり

Roma-ji: Hototogisu kiku ni tote shimo komoranedo Hatsuse no yama wa tayori arikeri
English Translation: Not for the cuckoo,
not to hear it did I come
into seclusion,
yet on Hatsuse's mountain
a fine chance for it I found.
Meaning: I did not come into retreat to hear the cuckoo, yet the mountain of Hatsuse has proved a fine place for hearing it.
Commentary: Summer Poems 199

Headnote: "When people composed poems on the cuckoo at a mountain temple"
The headnote shows that this poem was composed when people took up the topic of the cuckoo at a mountain temple. The poet did not go into retreat at Hase Temple in Hatsuse in order to hear the cuckoo, yet once there he found the mountain an ideal place for hearing it. Beyond the true purpose of his retreat, he rejoices in the unexpected gift of its song.
Hatsuse is the site of Hase Temple, famed for the worship of Kannon, where people went to stay in prayer. For one in retreat at a mountain temple, the cuckoo's voice comes as an unlooked-for blessing.

First line, “hototogisu”: the bird to be heard.
Second line, “kiku ni tote shimo”: shimo is emphatic, expressly to hear the cuckoo.
Third line, “komoranedo”: komoru is to stay at a temple in prayer, and nedo, the perfective of the negative zu with the concessive do, means though I did not go into retreat for that.
Fourth line, “Hatsuse no yama wa”: the mountain of Hase Temple in Yamato, a poetic place.
Fifth line, “tayori arikeri”: tayori is a convenience or good occasion, and keri expresses realization.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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