山深み気近き鳥の音はせで
もの恐ろしき梟の声
もの恐ろしき梟の声
- Roma-ji
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Yama fukami kejikaki tori no oto wa sede mono osoroshiki fukurō no koe
- English Translation
-
The mountains so deep,
no song of the friendly birds
that are near at hand—
only, eerie and fearsome,
the voice of the owl I hear.
- Meaning
- Deep in the mountains, I hear none of the friendly birds of home—only the eerie, frightening voice of the owl.
- Commentary
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Miscellaneous Poems 1203
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sent from Kōya to the lay monk Jakunen when he was living in Ōhara"
The sixth of the ten. Deep in the mountains there are none of the familiar birdsongs of home, only the eerie hooting of the owl.
Contrasting familiar birds with the uncanny owl conveys the loneliness of night in the deep mountains. The owl is rarely sung in waka, and the true experience of mountain life brings this new material into the poem.
First line, “yama fukami”: since the mountains are deep, shared by the series.
Second line, “kejikaki tori no”: kejikashi means close at hand, familiar.
Third line, “oto wa sede”: de is a negative conjunction, "making no sound."
Fourth line, “mono osoroshiki”: somehow frightening.
Fifth line, “fukurō no koe”: ending on a noun, the owl's eerie voice in the mountain night lingers.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
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Yama fukami iwa ni shitaruru mizu tamen katsugatsu otsuru tochi hirou hodo
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Yama fukami kogurai mine no kozue yori monomonoshiku mo wataru arashi ka