Izumigawa hahaso no mori ni naku semi no koe no sumeru wa natsu no fukasa ka

泉川柞の森に鳴く蟬の
声の澄めるは夏の深さか

Roma-ji: Izumigawa hahaso no mori ni naku semi no koe no sumeru wa natsu no fukasa ka
English Translation: By the Izumi
in the grove of hahaso
cicadas singing—
is it that summer has grown deep
that their voices sound so clear?
Meaning: The cicadas singing in the oak grove by the Izumi River—is it because summer has grown deep that their voices sound so clear?
Commentary: Summer Poems 171

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the theme 'Fireflies fly in disarray; autumn is already near'"
Hearing the cicadas in the oak grove by the Izumi River sing with clear voices, the poet wonders whether it is because summer has grown deep. The river's name, "spring water," and the voices "clear" as water echo each other, portraying the pure stillness of deepening summer.
The Ruijū text places this poem among "poems found in another manuscript and in printed editions." In the source text consulted, characters at the end of the last line could not be read; it has been taken as natsu no fukasa ka from the syllable count and the flow of the words, but this is not certain.

Line 1, Izumigawa, is the old name of the Kizu River in Yamashiro, a poetic place.
Line 2 names the grove that stood beside the Izumi River; hahaso is a general name for konara oaks and similar trees.
Line 3, like "the cicadas I hear singing" of the preceding poem, 170, sings of the cicadas' voices, so the two poems stand side by side.
Line 4: sumeru ("clear") resonates with the clear water of "Izumi River" in line 1, as a related word.
Line 5: ka is interrogative, seeking the reason for the clear voices in summer's depth. The next poem, 172, opens with "summer grown deep," so poems on deepening summer follow.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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