ほととぎす心も空にあくがれて
夜離れがちなるみ山辺の里
夜離れがちなるみ山辺の里
- Roma-ji
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Hototogisu kokoro mo sora ni akugarete yogare gachi naru miyamabe no sato
- English Translation
-
O little cuckoo,
my heart too has wandered off
into the open sky,
and often I spend nights away
in the village by the deep hills
- Meaning
- Lured by the cuckoo, my heart drifts off into the sky, and night after night I stay away from home, lingering in the village by the deep hills.
- Commentary
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Book Two Summer Poems 111
Captivated by the cuckoo's song, the poet's heart drifts away, and night after night he leaves his home to linger in a village by the mountains. Borrowing yogare, a word from love poetry, he portrays his infatuation with the cuckoo as if it were romantic longing.
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.
The author, Akisuke, is Fujiwara no Akisuke. A son of Fujiwara no Akisue, he rose to Master of the Western Capital Office. A poet of the Rokujō Fujiwara house, he compiled the Shikawakashū at the command of Retired Emperor Sutoku.
First line, 'hototogisu', opens by naming the theme.
Second line, 'kokoro mo sora ni', means my heart too is in the air, sora also evoking the sky where the cuckoo flies. It links by the word sora to 'the traceless sky' in the next poem, 112.
Third line, 'akugarete', uses akugaru, for the heart to leave the body and wander.
Fourth line, 'yogare gachi naru', uses yogaru, originally a word of love meaning to stop visiting a lover by night; here it means often being away from home at night.
Final line, 'miyamabe no sato', is the village by the deep mountains, ending on a noun.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Akisuke
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Koisu chō nakina ya tatamu hototogisu matsu ni nenu yo no kazu shi tsumoreba
- Next Poem
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Hototogisu akade suginuru koe ni yori ato naki sora o nagametsuru kana