Samidare no harema tazunete hototogisu kumoi ni tsutau koe kikoyu nari

五月雨の晴れ間尋ねて郭公
雲居に伝ふ声聞こゆなり

Roma-ji: Samidare no harema tazunete hototogisu kumoi ni tsutau koe kikoyu nari
English Translation: Through the summer rains
seeking out a break in clouds,
the cuckoo—
its voice that passes along
the high sky, I seem to hear.
Meaning: Seeking out a break in the early-summer rains, the cuckoo passes along the sky, and I seem to hear its voice.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1468

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on the Cuckoo"
The sixth of the ten poems on the cuckoo. Seeking a brief break in the incessant summer rains, the cuckoo crosses the sky calling, and its voice reaches him.
A poem of hearing, catching in the short span of a lull in the rainy season a voice that moves across the sky. Where the preceding poems sang of waiting, here a voice is actually heard.

First line, “samidare no”: the long rains of the fifth month, the rainy season.
Second line, “harema tazunete”: seeking a break in the rain, as the cuckoo's movement.
Third line, “hototogisu”: the bird calling across as it seeks the break.
Fourth line, “kumoi ni tsutau”: kumoi is the sky, "passing along the sky."
Fifth line, “koe kikoyu nari”: nari infers from sound, "I seem to hear its voice."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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