保登等芸須 安不知能枝尓 由吉底居者 花波知良牟奈 珠登見流麻泥
ほととぎす あふちのえだに ゆきてゐば はなはちらむな たまとみるまで
pototogisu aputi no eda ni yukite wiba pana pa tiramu na tama to miru made If a cuckoo To the chinaberry’s branches Should come to rest, then Still would the blossoms scatter, for Gems do they but seem…
Sent in reply on the 3rd day of the Fourth Month by Palace Attendant Ōtomo sukune Yakamochi from the capital at Kuni to his younger brother, Fumimochi.
おもひのみふかきみ山のほととぎす人こそしらね音をのみぞなく
omoi nomi fukaki miyama no hototogisu hito koso shirane ne o nomi zo naku Simply in passion’s fire Deep within the mountains A cuckoo Unknown to anyone at all Let’s out constant cries…
409
郭公きけどもあかずたちばなの花ちる里の五月雨のころ
hototogisu kikedomo akazu tachibana no hana chiru sato no samidare no koro The cuckoo I hear, yet am never sated, when Orange Blossom scatters round my estate In the summer rain…
みな人のなをしもよぶか郭公鳴くなるこゑのさとをとよむる
minahito no na o shimo yobu ka hototogisu naku naru koe no sato o toyomuru Is very person’s Name he calling? The cuckoo’s Calling cries Echo round the estate!
さ月やま木だかき峰の時鳥たそかれ時の空に鳴くなり
satsuki yama kodakaki mine no hototogisu tasogaredoki no sora ni naku nari In the Fifth Month mountains From the trees upon the high peaks A cuckoo At the edge of twilight Sings into the skies.
かづらきやたかまのやまの時鳥雲ゐのよそに鳴きわたるなり
kazuragi ya takama no yama no hototogisu kumoi no yoso ni nakiwataru nari In Kazuragi Upon Takama Mountain A cuckoo From within the distant clouds Calls out!
五月雨の雲のかかれるまきもくのひばらが峰になくほととぎす
samidare no kumo no kakareru makimoku no hibara ga mine ni naku hototogisu Summer rain Clouds hang over Makimoku Peak where from the cypress groves A cuckoo calls.
五月雨の露もまだひぬ奥山のまきのはがくれなくほととぎす
samidare no tsuyu mo mada hinu okuyama no maki no hagakure naku hototogisu The summer rain’s Dewy droplets have yet to dry Deep within the mountains, where Hidden ‘mongst the evergreen leaves A cuckoo calls out.
さみだれによの深けゆけばほととぎすひとり山辺を鳴きて過ぐなり
samidare ni yo no fukeyukeba hototogisu hitori yamabe o nakitesugu nari In the summer rain, As the night fall on, A cuckoo All alone from the mountainside Does call, passing by.
有明の月は入りぬる木の間よりやまほととぎすなきていづなり
ariake no tsuki wa irinuru ko no ma yori yamahototogisu nakite’izu nari At the dawn The moon is setting Between the trees A mountain cuckoo Calls out.
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