ほととぎす雲路にまどふ声すなり
小止みだにせよ五月雨の空
小止みだにせよ五月雨の空
- Roma-ji
-
Hototogisu kumoji ni madou koe su nari oyami dani seyo samidare no sora
- English Translation
-
O little cuckoo,
lost along the cloudy paths
your voice can be heard;
let up a while at least,
O sky of early summer rain
- Meaning
- I hear the cuckoo crying as if it had lost its way among the clouds. At least ease off a little, sky of the early summer rains.
- Commentary
-
Book Two Summer Poems 126
In a sky of early summer rain, the cuckoo sounds as if it has lost its way among the clouds, and the poet calls on the sky to let the rain ease at least a little. Sympathy for the bird lost in the rain is expressed as a command to the rainy sky.
With this poem the cuckoo sequence ends. Through the closing words 'sky of early summer rain', the book moves on to the sweet flag and then to the poems on the summer rains.
The author, Tsunenobu, is Minamoto no Tsunenobu. A son of Minamoto no Michikata, he rose to Major Counselor and was called the Katsura Counselor. In his last years he died at his post as Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu. He was the father of the compiler, Minamoto no Toshiyori.
First line, 'hototogisu', opens by naming the theme.
Second line, 'kumoji ni madou', uses kumoji, the road through the clouds traveled by birds, picturing the bird lost amid rain clouds.
Third line, 'koe su nari', uses the auditory inferential nari: such a voice is heard. The poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, 'oyami dani seyo', uses oyami, a brief letup in the rain, and dani for a minimal wish: at least pause a while.
Final line, 'samidare no sora', is the one addressed, ending on a noun. It closes the cuckoo sequence and leads into the scenes of summer rain.
- Author
- Minamoto no Tsunenobu
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Hototogisu tazunuru dani mo aru mono o matsu hito ikade koe o kikuramu
- Next Poem
-
Ayamegusa netaku mo kimi ga towanu kana kyō wa kokoro ni kakare to omou ni