Kikade matsu hito omoishire hototogisu kikite mo hito wa nao zo matsumeru

聞かで待つ人思ひ知れ郭公
聞きても人はなほぞ待つめる

Roma-ji: Kikade matsu hito omoishire hototogisu kikite mo hito wa nao zo matsumeru
English Translation: Those who wait unheard—
know what their hearts must feel,
O cuckoo;
for even those who have heard
keep on waiting still, it seems.
Meaning: O cuckoo, know the feelings of those who wait without having heard you; for even those who have heard you seem to go on waiting.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1465

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on the Cuckoo"
The third of the ten poems on the cuckoo. He calls on the cuckoo to understand those who wait without yet having heard it, since even those who have heard it seem to go on waiting.
If the cuckoo is still awaited after being heard, how much more those who have not yet heard it—this comparison heightens the ache of waiting. Repeating the words to hear and to wait, it sets the waiting before hearing against the waiting after.

First line, “kikade matsu”: de is a negative conjunctive, "waiting without hearing."
Second line, “hito omoishire”: know the feelings of those who wait, the imperative calling to the cuckoo.
Third line, “hototogisu”: an address; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “kikite mo hito wa”: paired with “kikade” in the first line, "even those who have heard."
Fifth line, “nao zo matsumeru”: the binding particle zo concludes with meru, the attributive of the inferential meri, "they seem still to wait."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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