春暮れて声に花咲く郭公
尋ぬることも待つも変はらぬ
尋ぬることも待つも変はらぬ
- Roma-ji
-
Haru kurete koe ni hana saku hototogisu tazunuru koto mo matsu mo kawaranu
- English Translation
-
Spring now has passed by,
and blossoms bloom in the voice
of the cuckoo:
the seeking out and waiting
are no different than before.
- Meaning
- Spring has ended, and now blossoms bloom in the cuckoo's voice; seeking it out and waiting for it are no different from the season of flowers.
- Commentary
-
One Hundred Poems 1464
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on the Cuckoo"
The second of the ten poems on the cuckoo. When spring ends, blossoms seem to bloom in the cuckoo's voice, and seeking it and waiting for it are no different from the time of flowers.
It sings of a refined heart that carries over the seasons: the heart that sought and awaited blossoms in spring is now turned toward the cuckoo's voice. It advances the conceit of the preceding poem, where the voice was a trace of the blossoms, by likening the voice itself to a flower.
First line, “haru kurete”: spring having ended, the season of blossoms past.
Second line, “koe ni hana saku”: blossoms bloom in the cuckoo's voice, its beauty likened to flowers.
Third line, “hototogisu”: the bird that announces summer; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “tazunuru koto mo”: seeking out the voice, overlapping with the seeking of blossoms in spring.
Fifth line, “matsu mo kawaranu”: nu, the negative in attributive form, closes the poem, "waiting too is no different."
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
- Prev Poem
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Nakan koe ya chirinuru hana no nagori naru yagate mataruru hototogisu kana
- Next Poem
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Kikade matsu hito omoishire hototogisu kikite mo hito wa nao zo matsumeru