あしひきの山郭公深山出でて
夜深き月の影に鳴くなり
夜深き月の影に鳴くなり
- Roma-ji
-
Ashihiki no yama hototogisu miyama idete yo fukaki tsuki no kage ni nakunari
- English Translation
-
From the footsore hills
the mountain hototogisu
leaving the deep peaks,
in the light of the late moon
I can hear it singing now.
- Meaning
- The mountain hototogisu has left the deep hills, and I hear it singing in the light of the late-night moon.
- Commentary
-
Summer Poems 150
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The hototogisu"
The poet hears the mountain hototogisu, having left the deep hills, singing in the moonlight late at night. Overlaying the bright midnight moon and the bird's voice, he paints a pure scene of a summer night.
This poem was included in the Fūga Wakashū. Kamo no Mabuchi also marked it with a circle.
Line 1, ashihiki no, is a pillow word for "mountain," the same opening as the preceding poem, 149.
Line 2 is likewise the same, so the two poems place the same bird in different scenes.
Line 3, "leaving the deep hills," is hypermetric. Against the hidden, unseen bird of the preceding poem, here the bird leaves the hills and shows itself.
Line 4 refers to the moon late at night. The next poem, 151, also pairs the moon with the hototogisu, so moon poems continue.
Line 5: kage means the moon's light, and nari infers from sound, sensing the voice singing in the moonlight.
- Author
- Minamoto no Sanetomo
- Source
- Kinkaishu
- Prev Poem
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Ashihiki no yama hototogisu kogakurete me ni koso miene oto no sayakesa
- Next Poem
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Ariake no tsuki wa irinuru ko no ma yori yama hototogisu nakite izunari