ほととぎすおとはの山の麓まで
尋ねし声を今宵聞くかな
尋ねし声を今宵聞くかな
- Roma-ji
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Hototogisu otowa no yama no fumoto made tazuneshi koe o koyoi kiku kana
- English Translation
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O little cuckoo,
to the foot of Otowa,
the mountain of sound,
I went seeking for your voice
and tonight at last I hear it
- Meaning
- Cuckoo, I went all the way to the foot of Mount Otowa in search of your voice, and tonight, at last, I hear it.
- Commentary
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Book Two Summer Poems 108
The poet went all the way to the foot of Mount Otowa in search of the cuckoo's voice without success, and tonight, unexpectedly, he hears it. The poem expresses the joy of something that, though sought in vain with great effort, arrives of its own accord.
From poem 104 through poem 126 in this book, poems on the cuckoo follow one another, expressing every mood around the bird: waiting for its first song, seeking it out, rejoicing at hearing it and lamenting having missed it.
First line, 'hototogisu', opens by naming the theme.
Second line, 'otowa no yama no', is a pivot word combining Mount Otowa, on the border of Yamashiro and Ōmi, with oto, the sound of the cuckoo's voice.
Third line, 'fumoto made', means as far as the foot, showing the trouble of the journey.
Fourth line, 'tazuneshi koe o', means the voice I sought, shi being the attributive form of the past auxiliary ki. Like 'spent the day searching' in poem 105, it expresses the heart that goes in search of the cuckoo.
Final line, 'koyoi kiku kana', means tonight I hear it, the exclamatory kana carrying the poet's joy.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Hototogisu nakitsu to kataru hitozute no kotonoha sae zo ureshikarikeru
- Next Poem
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Toshigoto ni kiku to wa suredo hototogisu koe wa furisenu mono ni zo arikeru