Natsu no yo wa shino no kotake no fushi chikami soyo ya hodo naku akuru narikeri

夏の夜は篠の小竹の節近み
そよやほどなく明くるなりけり

Roma-ji: Natsu no yo wa shino no kotake no fushi chikami soyo ya hodo naku akuru narikeri
English Translation: The summer night is
like the slender bamboo's joints,
set so close they are,
rustling, yes, so very soon
it is over and has dawned.
Meaning: A summer night, like the slender bamboo with its joints set so close together, rustles by, and yes, it is over and dawn has come almost at once.
Commentary: Summer Poems 240

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
This poem likens the shortness of the summer night to the short spaces between the joints of slender bamboo. The bamboo's joints are set close together, and their shortness is laid over the brevity of the night; in the rustling of its leaves sounds soyo, yes indeed, as the poet sighs that the night truly ends in a moment.
Following the preceding poem, which caught the short summer night through the torchlight hunt, this one expresses its brevity through the short joints of bamboo, setting side by side poems that liken the short night to different things.

First line, “natsu no yo wa”: as for the summer night.
Second line, “shino no kotake no”: slender bamboo, introducing fushi chikami in the third line and serving as a figure for the shortness of the night.
Third line, “fushi chikami”: an adjective stem with mi, because the joints are close together.
Fourth line, “soyo ya hodo naku”: soyo is a pivot word joining the rustle of bamboo leaves and soyo, yes indeed, a word of assent; hodo naku means soon.
Fifth line, “akuru narikeri”: narikeri expresses realization, closing on the recognition that it is so.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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