Hisakata no ama no kawara ni sumu tazu mo kokoro ni aranu ne o ya nakuramu

久方の天の川原に住む鶴も
心にあらぬ音をや鳴くらむ

Roma-ji: Hisakata no ama no kawara ni sumu tazu mo kokoro ni aranu ne o ya nakuramu
English Translation: Do even the cranes
that dwell along the riverbanks
of the River of Heaven
cry out despite themselves
with voices not their own?
Meaning: Do even the cranes that dwell on the banks of the River of Heaven cry out against their will?
Commentary: Love Poems 433

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Among poems on love"
The poet wonders whether the cranes living on the banks of the River of Heaven also cry out against their will, as he does, laying his weeping in love over the cranes of the sky.

Line 1, hisakata no, is a pillow word for "heaven," the same as line 1 of the preceding poem.
Line 2 means "on the banks of the River of Heaven," recalling the Tanabata legend of separated lovers.
Line 3 means "even the cranes that dwell," tazu being the poetic word for crane.
Line 4 means "against their hearts." According to the notes in the base text, the Teika text differs in line 4.
Line 5: ya binds the attributive ramu, overlaying the cranes' cry with the poet's weeping.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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