Yamazato no hito mo kozue no matsu ga ure ni aware ni kiiru hototogisu kana

山里の人もこずゑの松が末に
あはれに来ゐるほととぎすかな

Roma-ji: Yamazato no hito mo kozue no matsu ga ure ni aware ni kiiru hototogisu kana
English Translation: Though in the mountains
no one comes, on the treetops
at the tips of pines,
how movingly it perches—
the cuckoo, come to me.
Meaning: Though no one comes to my mountain village, how movingly the cuckoo comes to perch at the tip of the pine's top branches.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1448

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Though no one comes to the mountain village, the cuckoo comes movingly to perch at the tip of the pine, the poet says.
Kozue pivots on kozu, "does not come," and kozue, "treetop," singing of communion with nature in which only the cuckoo visits a lonely village where no one comes. The cuckoo's visit only sharpens the absence of people.

First line, “yamazato no”: of the mountain village.
Second line, “hito mo kozue no”: kozue pivots on "no one comes" and "treetop."
Third line, “matsu ga ure ni”: at the tip of the pine.
Fourth line, “aware ni kiiru”: coming movingly to perch.
Fifth line, “hototogisu kana”: kana is exclamatory.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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